North Carolina Electricity Rate Changes: What Changed in 2026 and What's Next

No new Duke Energy base rates took effect in North Carolina on October 1, 2026. The change to watch is three months out: two rate cases now before the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) would raise residential bills on January 1, 2027. Duke has agreed to settlements that cut its original request roughly in half, but the commission has not ruled.

This article covers Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) and Duke Energy Progress (DEP), which together serve about 3.6 million retail customers in the state. It does not cover Dominion Energy North Carolina, electric cooperatives or city-owned utilities, which set rates separately.

Quick Summary

Dollar figures are Duke Energy’s estimates as reported by North Carolina news outlets. They are not your personal bill.

What Duke Asked For

Duke filed both cases on November 20, 2025 (DEC: Docket E-7, Sub 1329; DEP: Docket E-2, Sub 1380). Each asked for a two-step increase in 2027 and 2028.

For residential customers, that worked out to about 18% over two years.

How the Request Shrank

1. June 2026: Duke lowered its own request. WUNC reported the residential increase fell from 18% to 11.6% over two years, with the requested return on equity cut from 10.95% to 10.48%.
2. July 2026 (DEC): Duke Energy Carolinas reached a settlement with the commission’s Public Staff, which represents customers, and other parties. Residential rates would rise 5.9% in 2027 and 3.6% in 2028, about 9.5% in total. The return on equity in the settlement is 9.8%.
3. August 2026 (DEP): Duke Energy Progress reached a similar settlement. Duke describes it as a 3.4% average annual increase over two years across all customers.

Both settlements include a $10 million shareholder contribution to low-income bill assistance and weatherization. The DEP settlement also speeds up the return of $120 million a year in federal tax credits to customers.

What a 1,000 kWh Customer Would Pay

Duke Energy Carolinas (settlement):

• Current bill cited in settlement coverage: $156.81
• January 1, 2027: $156.81 + $9.39 = $166.20
• January 1, 2028: $166.20 + $5.52 = $171.72
• Two-year change: $14.91, or 9.5% ($14.91 ÷ $156.81)

Duke Energy Progress (settlement):

• January 1, 2027: +$9.62 a month
• 2028: +$5.89 a month
• Two-year change: $15.51 a month

We do not show a DEP total because we did not find a current 1,000 kWh bill figure from Duke for 2026. Port City Daily put the current DEP household bill at about $165.

Note that the DEC starting bill rose from $144.98 at filing in November 2025 to $156.81 in July 2026 coverage. That $11.83 difference happened before any rate case decision. We could not confirm which rider changes account for it, so we do not attribute it here.

The Disputed Percentage

The percentages need care, because different numbers describe different things.

• Duke’s “3.4% average annual” (DEP) and “3.7% average annual” (DEC) figures cover all customer classes, averaged per year.
• Residential customers would see more than the average. For DEC, that is about 9.5% over two years.
• For DEP, Duke’s North Carolina president testified that residential rates would rise 6.8% over two years. On August 13, 2026, the Attorney General’s office said the correct figure is 9.3%. That matches the dollar amounts: $15.51 on a bill of about $165 is roughly 9.4%.

Who Supports and Opposes the Settlements

• Signed: the Public Staff, the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, the Carolina Industrial Group for Fair Utility Rates, the Carolina Utility Customers Association and several large customers.
• Did not sign: Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who said of the DEC deal, “it is still too high,” and is arguing for a lower return on equity. Governor Josh Stein has also criticized the increase.

What Happens Next

• The decision: the commission can approve, modify or reject each settlement. Expert hearings ran in July and August 2026. As of September 30, 2026, published reports still described the rate cases as under review. We found no final order.
• January 1, 2027: the proposed effective date for new rates.
• One utility instead of two: Duke has proposed combining DEC and DEP, with a target date of January 1, 2027. This needs state and federal approval. We did not confirm its current status.
• Data centers: the commission is separately writing rules for how very large customers pay for the power and grid upgrades they need.
• Fuel riders: Duke adjusts fuel and other riders every year in separate proceedings. Those changes can move bills up or down on top of base rates. We did not find the 2026 rider decisions.

What This Means for Homeowners With Solar

North Carolina replaced traditional net metering for new Duke customers under an NCUC order in Docket E-100, Sub 180 (March 2023). Three things matter now:

1. Older net metering ends January 1, 2027. Customers on the earlier riders may stay until that date. They then move to the Net Metering Bridge rider or to a time-of-use solar rate.
2. The bridge rate is closing to new applicants. The order made it available through December 31, 2026, with yearly capacity limits handed out first come, first served. Monthly excess energy is credited at an avoided-cost rate, well below the retail rate.
3. Residential Solar Choice is the long-term rate. It requires a time-of-use schedule with critical peak pricing, a minimum monthly bill and a non-bypassable charge per kW of solar capacity.

The amounts described in that order were a $22 monthly minimum bill for DEC and $28 for DEP, and a non-bypassable charge of $0.36 per kW a month for DEC and $0.44 for DEP. Tariff amounts can change, and we could not check the current rider sheets, so confirm them with your utility before relying on these.

For payback, the point is the same as in other net billing states: a kWh you use yourself avoids the retail rate, and a kWh you export earns much less. A higher retail rate in 2027 would raise the value of self-used solar, while fixed and minimum charges are not reduced by solar. Our solar payback guide shows how much the export rule changes the math.

Duke’s PowerPair incentive for solar plus a battery has been reported as fully subscribed in DEP territory with capacity remaining in DEC territory. Confirm availability with Duke before counting on it.

What to Check on Your Bill

1. Which utility you have. DEC and DEP have different rates and different proposed increases.
2. Your rate schedule. The figures above are for the standard residential schedule at 1,000 kWh. Time-of-use customers will see different effects.
3. The basic customer charge and whether it changes in the final order.
4. Rider lines, especially fuel. See our guide to reading your electric bill.
5. If you have solar: which rider you are on, and whether you need to choose a rate before January 1, 2027.

Limitations

We could not open Duke Energy’s tariff sheets or the commission’s docket files directly for this article, so the settlement figures come from Duke’s news releases, the Attorney General’s office and North Carolina news reports. We did not verify the 2026 fuel and rider changes, the current DEP bill at 1,000 kWh, or the status of the utility combination. The solar figures come from the commission’s 2023 order and may not match today’s tariff sheets. This article will be updated when the commission issues its orders.

Sources

• Duke Energy, “Duke Energy proposes new investments in North Carolina,” Nov. 20, 2025
• Duke Energy, “Duke Energy Progress reaches agreement with North Carolina Public Staff and other stakeholders,” Aug. 2026
• N.C. Department of Justice, “Duke Energy Gave Incorrect Residential Rate Increase; Families to Pay 9.3% More, Not 6.8%,” Aug. 13, 2026
• N.C. Department of Justice, “Attorney General Jeff Jackson Won’t Sign Second Duke Energy Settlement,” Aug. 12, 2026
• NCUC, Order Approving Revised Net Metering Tariffs, Docket E-100, Sub 180
• WUNC, “Duke Energy takes rare step of lowering a rate request,” June 23, 2026
• WBTV, “Duke Energy Carolinas bills could rise nearly $10 per month in 2027,” July 14, 2026
• Carolina Journal, “Duke settlement lowers rate hike, NC households still face 9.5% increase,” July 2026
• Port City Daily, “Duke Energy-stakeholder agreement pares down residential rate increase to 9.5% over 2 years,” July 22, 2026
• WRAL, “Duke Energy rate hike hearings resume in NC,” Aug. 11, 2026
• NC Local, “Duke Energy wants an 18% rate hike for NC customers,” June 5, 2026
• NC Sustainable Energy Association, “Understanding Solar Net Metering Changes Impacting Duke Energy Customers”
• Southern Energy Management, “Duke Energy Net Metering 2026,” updated Sept. 8, 2026