Last Friday’s Brief covered the settlement Duke proposed in North Carolina for its own retail customers, with a similar 75% minimum bill. The Brief, October 9 Today’s story is the federal side. The federal regulator has already accepted Duke’s terms for the wholesale buyers that move power over Duke’s lines.
What did FERC accept on October 9?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that regulates interstate power lines, accepted new transmission rules from Duke Energy Carolinas on October 9, 2026. Two commissioners wrote concurring statements and one commissioner dissented. FERC eLibrary The rules rewrite Duke’s standard service agreement, the form contract a customer signs to move power over Duke’s lines in the Carolinas. Duke filed the changes on May 29, 2026 because it was receiving more requests to serve very large new loads. Utility Dive
An AI data center does not sign this contract itself. When a utility or public power agency other than Duke serves the AI data center, that buyer signs it and carries every obligation described below. The special terms apply to requests to add 100 megawatts or more of load.
What the buyer has to commit to
New load often requires network upgrades, which are additions to Duke’s grid that support the whole system and are shared by all its users. Duke tariff The accepted rules create a Committed Revenue Contribution, a minimum payment the buyer owes for 15 years after those upgrades enter service. Each month and year, the buyer must pay for at least 75% of the megawatts listed in its load schedule. If its actual payments fall below that floor, it owes a shortfall payment equal to the difference. Dissenting statement
Take a load scheduled at 200 megawatts. Its buyer pays as if it took service for at least 150 megawatts every year for 15 years, even if the AI data center draws far less.
The buyer also cannot raise or lower the requested megawatts once Duke has identified the upgrades it needs. A larger load requires a new request. Duke told FERC that a load which shrinks after the grid is sized for it shifts cost onto other customers. A shortfall invoice is due within 20 days. Duke deficiency response
| What changed | Before the order | After the order |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum payment for loads of 100 megawatts or more | No minimum in the standard contract | 75% of scheduled load each year for 15 years |
| A load that comes in smaller | Other customers absorb the gap | Buyer pays the shortfall within 20 days of an invoice |
| Changing the requested size | Limit added by this filing | Fixed once upgrades are identified |
| Cost of upgrades once built | Spread across customers by FERC default practice | Spread across customers, now written into the contract |
Who pays if the load never arrives
Duke uses rolled in rates, which means the cost of an upgrade is added to the rate every network customer pays once the upgrade enters service. FERC accepted that as the default for upgrades driven by large loads. Shortfall payments go into a revenue account that lowers what all customers owe. Duke says a payment received in 2028 would reduce rates charged from June 1, 2029 through May 31, 2030.
The floor protects other customers only while the buyer can pay. The rules add no new security, meaning cash or a letter of credit held against a default. Duke instead relies on its general security terms, which release that security within 90 days after the upgrades enter service. The dissenting commissioner estimated this leaves about one month, or at most five months, of revenue backing a 15 year promise. If the buyer defaults, the remaining cost falls on other customers. Dissenting statement
The dissent also points out that these agreements are reported to FERC in quarterly reports rather than filed. As a result, the upgrade costs behind each deal will not generally be filed for public review. Dissenting statement
One concurring commissioner wrote that 75% may sit near the low end of what is lawful. She accepted it because Duke filed the plan itself, and FERC then only judges whether a utility’s own proposal falls within a lawful range. She urged Duke to charge a separate, higher rate when a large load drives unusually costly upgrades. Concurring statement
Duke has proposed that higher rate before. Its testimony for Lockhart Power showed a 200 megawatt load needing $40 million in upgrades, priced at $4.11 per kilowatt month against $2.66 under rolled in rates. Duke testimony FERC rejected that amended Lockhart agreement on December 23, 2025. FERC eLibrary
FERC’s June 2026 large load orders do not reach Duke. Those orders cover only regional grid operators, and Duke does not belong to one. Utility Dive
Tomorrow’s topic
The Oregon governor’s order pausing data center air and water permits.