Duke Energy CORP (DUK)

Duke Energy, incorporated May 3, 2005 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a regulated energy holding company operating primarily through subsidiaries including Duke Energy Carolinas, Progress Energy, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Indiana and Piedmont, subject to oversight by FERC, NRC and various state commissions (NCUC, PSCSC, FPSC, IURC, PUCO, KPSC). The company operates through two reportable segments—Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I) and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I)—with remaining operations classified as Other; Commercial Renewables was reclassified as discontinued operations in Q4 2022. EU&I provides regulated retail electric service (generation, transmission, distribution) to approximately 8.2 million customers across roughly 92,000 square miles in six Southeast and Midwest states with a combined population of 26 million, plus wholesale sales to municipalities and cooperatives; it owns about 49,870 MW of generation capacity with a diversified fuel mix (natural gas/fuel oil ~34%, nuclear ~27%, coal ~14%, hydro/solar, and purchased power ~24%).

EU&I holds 50% ownership stakes in transmission joint ventures DATC (which owns 72% of the Path 15 transmission line in California) and Pioneer, and in 2021 sold a 19.9% minority interest in Duke Energy Indiana Holdco to a GIC affiliate. The company manages fuel supply through long-term and spot contracts for natural gas, coal, and nuclear fuel (uranium concentrates, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication services), maintaining inventories (~$3.4 billion as of year-end 2022) sufficient to meet operational needs. Duke Energy operates 11 nuclear reactors across six stations (Crystal River Unit 3 permanently shut down in 2013), maintains nuclear decommissioning trust funds (~$8.6 billion fair value at year-end 2022) and is pursuing license renewals for several reactors, while complying with Price-Anderson Act liability requirements and EPA/state coal ash (CCR) management regulations, including completed excavation at high-priority North Carolina sites.

Rates are regulated by state commissions through cost-of-service ratemaking with allowed returns on equity, and the company has ongoing electric rate cases across multiple jurisdictions (South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky) with approved and pending rate increases tied to specific ROE and equity capital structure terms.