Duke Energy reported earnings of $1.25/share for the second quarter, and CEO Harry Sideris told analysts Aug. 5 the company also came out ahead with state and federal legislation.

With Republicans in control of both houses, the North Carolina legislature overrode a veto from Gov. Josh Stein (D) on July 29 and made the Power Bill Reduction Act (SB266) law, which cuts the state’s greenhouse gas emission-reduction commitments.

“As we ramp up generation investments to meet accelerating load growth, this legislation allows for annual recovery of financing costs for new baseload generation, supporting our credit profile and minimizing costs to customers,” Sideris said.

Stein’s veto statement argued that the bill would lead to higher costs for customers, as Duke and other load-serving entities have to burn more expensive fuel to generate power in the coming decades.

“Recent independent analysis of Senate Bill 266 shows that this bill could cost North Carolina ratepayers up to $23 billion through 2050 due to higher fuel costs,” Stein said. “This bill not only makes everyone’s utility bills more expensive, but it also shifts the cost of electricity from large industrial users onto the backs of regular people — families will pay more so that industry pays less. Additionally, this bill walks back our state’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions, sending the wrong signal to businesses that want to be a part of our clean energy economy.”

The law eliminates a requirement for Duke and other generators to cut emissions by 70% from 2005 levels by 2030. Sideris highlighted language that authorizes Duke to recover generation investments using construction work in progress (CWIP) adders, meaning it can collect money from ratepayers when plants are being built.

But Sideris said the law will make the state more attractive for growth and help Duke meet the higher demand that comes with new customers, including new data center investment of $10 billion by Amazon Web Services.

“It gives us some credit help with CWIP being able to recover annually,” he added. “But … our plan is still along the same lines as the all-of-the-above [approach] that we filed in the multiple [requests for proposals] that we’ve done. We’ll be … really looking at all resources that can support the growth that we’re seeing in North Carolina, and this bill just helps us manage that but also manage the customer affordability portion.”

On the company’s previous earnings call, Sideris was critical of a draft of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that would have stripped tax credits for nuclear plants, but that language did not make it into the final law. (See Budget Bills Would End Energy Tax Credits Early, Claw Back Other Funding.)

“On the federal side, the preservation of nuclear production tax credits in the final budget reconciliation bill was a significant win for our customers,” Sideris said. “Only well-run, cost-efficient reactors are eligible to receive the credit. Our 11-GW nuclear fleet is the largest regulated fleet in the nation and earned $500 million of PTCs last year.”

In Ohio, Duke counts the enactment of House Bill 15 as a victory because it eliminates the electric security plans, which had governed utilities there for more than a decade, Sideris said. (See Ohio Governor Signs Utility Law Aimed at Enhancing Competition.)

In Florida, Duke announced a deal with Brookfield Asset Management, which will acquire a 19.7% share of Duke Energy Florida for $6 billion that will support a $4 billion increase in the utility’s five-year capital plan.

Duke is also preparing some regulatory filings that will seek to combine its utilities in the Carolinas, which have maintained some separation since the company bought Progress Energy more than a decade ago. It plans to file requests with FERC and both the North Carolina and South Carolina commissions this month.

In addition to large customers, the Carolinas are seeing demand grow as more people move there, and the company has plans to build 8 GW of new dispatchable supply by 2031 at all of its utilities, including 1 GW of uprates at existing plants and new generators, Sideris said.

“With turbines secured under our framework agreement with GE Vernova and gas supply contracted, we are confident in meeting the in-service timelines we have laid out for these new units,” Sideris said.

While uprates at existing nuclear plants are a firm part of its plan, Sideris said Duke would not commit to building new units until the risks, supply chains and workforces are addressed for both traditional and small modular reactors.

“We’re also going to have to have overrun protection from the federal government or others to be able to protect our customers and our investors from any overruns on these projects,” Sideris said. “And then lastly, we’re going to have to have a means to make sure that we’re protecting the balance sheet as we’re building these facilities. So, until we get those items resolved, we’re still looking at solar, gas, and upgrading and getting everything that we can out of our current assets.”