Duke Energy shared its 2025 financial results, reporting nearly $5 billion in net income.
The report comes as many customers say their recent bills are significantly higher than normal.
“Mine doubled, not sure why,” one viewer wrote on Facebook, followed by another who called her bill “outrageous.”
When asked why people are seeing a steep increase, Duke Energy spokesperson Bill Norton said the recent cold snap is to blame.
“Prolonged below-normal temperatures pushed home energy use higher across the Carolinas – and higher use can mean higher bills,” Norton said.
Meanwhile, Will Scott with the Environmental Defense Fund said the increase has a lot to do with The Power Bill Reduction Act, passed over Gov. Josh Stein’s veto last year.
“We did an analysis that showed that this was going to increase bills for residential households in North Carolina, exactly at times like this,” says Scott.
In November, Duke Energy proposed a 15% rate hike that would cost customers on average $20 to $30 more per month.
“Targeted investments will harden the grid against storms and upgrade existing power plants to maximize efficiency, saving customers money,” the company wrote in a news release announcing the proposal.
Norton also pointed to the company’s proposed merging of its Carolinas utilities as a way to save customers more than $1 billion in future costs.
Scott believes that to truly protect customers, utilities need to build more energy resources and lawmakers and regulators need to put more pressure on utility companies.
“Say, Duke Energy, you’re [going to] have to make less money sometimes because we can’t afford all these rate increases on households who aren’t able to charge all that to someone else,” Scott said.
Norton says Duke Energy is working hard to maximize its current power plants to make them more efficient and generate more electricity.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission will begin to consider Duke Energy’s proposed rate hikes in July and August of this year.
Sleet helped mitigate widespread power outages for much of the Triangle this past weekend, but Duke Energy still saw scattered impacts across parts of the state.
The utility company restored 150,000 customers over the course of two days. Most of those outages were in Western North Carolina, which saw more freezing rain.
Areas north of the Triangle saw more impacts from the colder weather. East of Raleigh and south towards the Sandhills saw more freezing rain developed in the final hours of the storm.
“Here in Raleigh we saw several cars hitting utility poles; that’s always a challenge when you have slick roads,” Duke Energy Spokesperson Jeff Brooks said.
While the precipitation helped offset more outages for this past weekend, Duke Energy said it has made improvements to their electrical grid and worked to cut precarious tree limbs throughout the year.
“We are a much more advanced utility than we were even just a few years ago, and all those improvements benefit our customers,” Brooks said.
Crews are now preparing for another winter weather system potentially moving in this weekend. Brooks said it’s too early in the week to determine exactly what the impacts are going to be, and therefore what resources are needed.
They’ll be monitoring over the next two days to decide whether to add reinforcements to the local crews they already have on standby.
While it is too soon to tell how much snow or ice the Triangle will see, the WRAL Severe Weather Center is tracking a system that could bring “significant” impacts for the coming weekend, Jan. 24 and 25, 2026.
At Duke Energy, which provides power to nearly 5 million customers across the Carolinas, spokesman Jeff Brooks said, “We are monitoring the weather track for the week. Obviously, we’re five days out, so that forecast is going to change, and so at this point, we have to continue monitoring and we’ll adjust our plans as the week progresses.”
Heavy, accumulating snow or layers of ice can weigh down power lines, causing outages in a winter storm. Falling branches can also land on lines, causing power disruption.
“This storm has the potential of generating both of those,” Brooks said. “So that’s something that we’ll have to watch as the forecast becomes a little more solid in the days ahead.”
He recommended that the general public make their plans as well.
“Every storm is an opportunity to be ready. You never know when that storm is going to generate outages,” Brooks said.
Gas up, stock up ahead of winter storm
People can take the days before the storm to stock up on batteries, gas up cars and generators and withdraw cash, because ATMs and card transactions don’t work without power.
Every home should have an emergency kit that includes:
Prescription and non-prescription medicines for everyone in the family.
Flashlights and plenty of batteries
Ready-to-eat, non-perishable foods, such as canned meats, granola bars, instant soup and cereals, fruits and vegetables, canned or box juices, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars or trail mix
Battery-powered or hand-crank radio (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible)
Personal hygiene items like soap, shampoo and toilet paper
Plenty of blankets
Duke Energy team tracks storm to get power back on quickly
Duke Energy will alert customers when they know when and where an outage could happen, Brooks said.
“We have an in -house team of meteorologists that actually tracks every storm that comes through the Carolinas, and they do that not only so that we know what’s going to happen, but because their forecasts help drive our damage modeling system. And that system helps us determine where we’re likely to see outages and in what quantity,” he said.
Those models help the utility put the right people in place to quickly get customers back online. Duke pulls from employees across six states, bringing help to where it is needed most.
Monday will see low dropping into the 20s. With the wind chill, it will feel like the teens across the Triangle, the coldest morning since January 23.
With frigidly cold temperatures expected in the coming days, Duke Energy is reminding customers of a few things that they can do to help control energy use and still stay warm.
Ways to stay warm, while not driving your energy bill up
According to recent News & Observer reports, Duke Energy’s influence sprawls across North Carolina politics, ranging from political donations through the company’s corporate political action committee to spending $903,800 lobbying legislators last year, making it one of the largest political donors in the state.
Observer file photo
Another rate increase may be coming to Duke Energy customers if its new proposal is approved.
The company filed revised rate requests with the North Carolina Utilities Commission Thursday for both Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress customers. Duke Energy Carolinas covers the western half of the state, including Charlotte. Progress operates in the eastern half, including the Triangle region. Both companies serve parts of South Carolina.
Both groups of customers would experience about a 15% increase between 2027 and 2028. If approved, the customer increases would go into effect Jan. 1, 2027, with a second increase the following year.
For Duke Energy Carolinas customers, the monthly bill would increase by $17.22 in 2027 and again by $6.34 in 2028. In the first year, that would take average bills from $144.98 to $162.20.
For Duke Energy Progress customers, bills would increase by $23.11 in 2027 and $6.59 in 2028. That would take the monthly bill in the first year from $163.84 to $186.95.
Commercial and industrial customers would also experience rate increases.
The Charlotte-based company is looking for an annual revenue increase of $1 billion for Duke Energy Carolinas and $729 million for Duke Energy Progress. Both represent about a 15% increase over existing revenues.
The proposal needs to go before the state utilities commission, which would late schedule public hearings on the request. Those hearings would occur in the spring. The decision would be made in late 2026.
Since then, Duke Energy said it has improved its “self-healing technology,” which detects outages and reroutes power. As of October, the tech has saved almost 2.6 million hours of total outage time, according to the utility.
Duke Energy says its newly proposed rate hikes would increase reliability. It also helps power the growing state, which the utility notes includes new businesses that are mainly manufacturing facilities.
From 2027 to 2028, commercial customers for Duke Energy Carolinas will see increases of 8.7% and 3.9%. Industrial customers will see 6.3% and 3.4%. On the Progress side, commercial hikes will be about 9.2% and 4.6%. Industrial will be around 7.4% and 4.3%.
The utility said residential customer costs reflect what residents use. Large industrial and commercial customers may use more energy, but the demand more predictable, the utility said.
But residential customers are growing as well. The utility added around 150,000 customers in the last two years, according to Duke Energy.
To increase reliability, Duke Energy is focusing on grid upgrades, such as the self-healing technology and upgraded poles.
Duke Energy notes it’ll add new energy sources to its fleet, including the natural gas facilities in Person and Catawba Counties as well as the two proposed natural gas-powered generators in Rowan County.
The proposed rate hike doesn’t align with what Duke Energy has been discussing in other recent proposals.
In the biennial plan, Duke Energy said a customer would see a 2.1% annual increase over the coming decade, according to the plan.
And in Duke Energy’s announcement of the merger between Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, the utility vowed to save customers more than $1 billion through 2038.
Duke Energy said the proposed rate hike and the proposed resource plan address different needs. The resource plan didn’t factor in grid improvements the way the rate hike plan does.
And with the merger, the utility said the estimated savings are on a gradual scale. It wouldn’t go into effect until the merger is official, which wouldn’t happen until Jan. 1, 2027, if approved.
That’s also the reason why the rate hikes are separated between the two companies. If the rate hike is approved, along with the merger, this would be the last separated increase, the utility said.
Ways to save on energy bill
Duke Energy has several cost saving tools for income-qualified customers.
Weatherization involves installing energy conservation measures in a customer’s home. On an annual average, weatherization has saved customers $150.34 per home.
Smart $aver offers home improvements rebates for efficiency upgrades, including water heaters and insulation. That has saved customers $125.22 per home on average per year.
Desiree Mathurin covers growth and development for The Charlotte Observer. The native New Yorker returned to the East Coast after covering neighborhood news in Denver at Denverite and Colorado Public Radio. She’s also reported on high school sports at Newsday and southern-regional news for AP. Desiree is exploring Charlotte and the Carolinas, and is looking forward to taking readers along for the ride. Send tips and coffee shop recommendations.
To that end, Duke Energy purchased almost 27 acres from developer Crescent Communities last week for about $6.7 million, according to Mecklenburg County records. The site is at the southern end of the 1,400-acre redevelopment near Beaverdam Creek and Garrison Road.
It’s the latest purchase Duke Energy has made this year, as it looks to build more substations to power the growing city.
While it’s unclear if the site will become a substation, Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton said the purchase stems from planning for “grid enhancement projects” that will meet “the growing need for reliable electricity in the Charlotte region.”
And this area of west Charlotte is growing.
The River District is a 1,400-acre mixed-used project that in the next two decades will build 5,000 homes, millions of square feet of office space, half a million square feet of retail space and 1,000 hotel rooms.
In the last year, part of the utility’s plan to power the area includes the construction of substations, which converts high-voltage electricity to lower voltages for distribution to homes and businesses.
Duke Energy purchased almost 27 acres last week at the River District, a 1,400-acre mixed-used project that in the next two decades will build 5,000 homes. The utility purchased the land for almost $7 million and will use it to meet Charlotte’s growing need for electricity. John D. Simmons For the Observer
For $9.7 million, the utility purchased 11.5 acres from the YMCA of Greater Charlotte in January. The property sites behind the Stratford Richardson branch at Donald Ross Road and West Boulevard
In April, Duke Energy bought a 4.6-acre lot near Bank of America Stadium for $40 million from Tepper Sports & Entertainment.
“These locations were selected based on anticipated growth of energy demands in the immediate area and the proximity of the sites to existing grid infrastructure,” Duke Energy previously said.
In July, the utility notified the state’s Utilities Commission that it will be requesting permission to build two natural gas-powered combustion turbines at the former Buck Steam Station site.
The new units would generate 850 megawatts of energy and would be the utility’s most efficient generators, reaching full power within 10 to 15 minutes, Norton said. That amount of energy could power more than 600,000 homes.
Duke Energy predicts that in the next 15 years, Carolina customers’ annual electric use will increase by about 58,000 gigawatt-hours. The utility said that amount of energy is higher than the combined annual electric consumption of Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Wyoming.
Last month, Crescent Communities held a formal opening for the development’s first neighborhood, Westrow.
Westrow is the district’s town center where there will be a pavilion with an event lawn, a farmers’ market and a 5,000-square-foot lifestyle building.
In August, residents began moving into the neighborhood where single-family and town homes are being built by David Weekley Homes, DRB Homes, Saussy Burbank, and Toll Brothers. The area could potentially house 2,300 single-family homes.
A rendering of the River District, a 1,400-acre development expected to transform a largely vacant tract along the Catawba River about 8 miles from uptown Charlotte. Rendering courtesy of Crescent Communities
The apartments are also under construction.
The Novel River District will be a 318-unit, seven-building multifamily development. And Laurel Street Residential is constructing a mixed-income building. Once complete, 87 units will be available to those making 80% of the area median income or less. For a family of four, 80% AMI is about $84,800.
The River District is also beginning to work on its second neighborhood, Basswood. Crescent closed on the land in August and the area will house 140 single-family homes.
In July, Charlotte Fire Department announced that Engine 44 would serve the River District. The River District Firehouse will be a two-story, 14,000-square-foot station off Dixie River Road. The department filed a construction plan with the city last week to begin working on the site. For now, the engine is being housed at Firehouse 43 off Clanton Road.
Desiree Mathurin covers growth and development for The Charlotte Observer. The native New Yorker returned to the East Coast after covering neighborhood news in Denver at Denverite and Colorado Public Radio. She’s also reported on high school sports at Newsday and southern-regional news for AP. Desiree is exploring Charlotte and the Carolinas, and is looking forward to taking readers along for the ride. Send tips and coffee shop recommendations.
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
Companies with a long history of paying dividends and consistently hiking them remain appealing to income-focused investors. Avista, Regions Financial, and Duke Energy have rewarded shareholders for years and recently announced dividend increases. These companies currently offer dividend yields of up to 5%.
Avista Corp. (NYSE:AVA) is an electric and natural gas utility company in the U.S.
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Avista has increased its dividends every year for the last 22 years. In its most recent dividend hike announcement on Feb. 12, it raised the quarterly payout from $0.475 to $0.49 per share, equal to an annual figure of $1.96 per share. More recently, in its dividend announcement on Aug. 6, the company maintained the payout at the same level. Currently, the dividend yield on the stock is 5.03%.
Avista’s annual revenue as of June 30 stood at $1.96 billion. The company on Aug. 6 posted Q2 2025 revenues of $411 million and EPS of $0.17, both missing Street expectations.
Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF) provides various banking and related products and services to individual and corporate customers.
Regions Financial has raised its dividends consecutively for the last 12 years. In its most recent dividend hike announcement on July 16, the board increased the quarterly payout by 6% to $0.265 per share, equaling an annual figure of $1.06 per share. More recently, in its dividend announcement on Oct.15, the company maintained the payout at the same level. The current dividend yield stands at 4.37%.
Regions Financial’s annual revenue as of June 30 stood at $7.29 billion. The company on Oct. 17 posted Q3 2025 revenues of $1.94 billion and EPS of $0.63, both coming in above expectations.
Check out this article by Benzinga for six analysts’ insights on Regions Financial.
See Also: Missed Tesla? EnergyX Is Tackling the Next $200 Billion Opportunity — Lithium
Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE:DUK) is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services to millions of customers in the eastern U.S.
Duke Energy has increased its dividends every year for the last 18 years. In its most recent dividend hike announcement on July 15, it increased the quarterly payout from $1.045 to $1.065 per share, equal to an annual figure of $4.26 per share. More recently, in its dividend announcement on Oct. 14, the company maintained the payout at the same level. The dividend yield on the stock is 3.34%.
Duke Energy’s annual revenue as of June 30 stood at $31.27 billion. The company on Aug. 5 posted Q2 2025 revenues of $7.51 billion and EPS of $1.25, both beating the consensus estimates.
Avista, Regions Financial, and Duke Energy are good choices for investors seeking reliable passive income. Their dividend yields of up to 5% and long history of consistent hikes make them attractive to income-focused investors.
Duke Energy Florida announced a planned decrease of residential customer rates beginning next March, saying the company intends to lift the storm cost recovery charge currently being imposed on customers.The utility plans to drop the storm cost recovery charge in March 2026 after placing it on customers’ bills in March of this year, following back-to-back-to-back hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton last storm season.Residential customers using 1,000 kwh (kilowatt-hour) of electricity will see their bills drop approximately $44 compared to February 2026.But the company said it expects bills for those same customers will increase from January to February next year by approximately $7.54.The company had filed to increase costs in December 2024 and recover an estimated $1.1 billion in direct costs from all three hurricanes.It maintains that those costs are related to the deployment of hundreds of crews, the acquisition of significant mutual assistance, and repairing, rebuilding and replacing critical infrastructure damaged by the catastrophic storm surge and wind.But in recent months, some customers have been voicing frustrations with what they call exorbitant increases in their monthly bills.”They have been flying up,” said Michele Miller of Clermont.Miller lives in a 2,400 sq. ft. home with three window AC units.”It used to be $418, which is so ridiculous. We don’t have central heat and air, so we just have units, and now it $525. It just went up this month.””There’s times when we don’t even make it paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “It’s paycheck to probably a week before the next paycheck. It’s extremely rough.”Other customers WESH 2 spoke with describe monthly bills in excess of $600 and $700.Wei Sun, a professor of electrical engineering at UCF with expertise in electric power and energy systems, said customers will always want bills lowered, but utilities will continue to pass along the costs for both storm rebuilding and for grid hardening.”Even we have hurricanes, but we probably look at history, there’s a faster recovery, and even you can make a grid more robust to be able to resist those high-speed winds,” Sun said.He said those who have the ability should look into solar panels for the roofs of their homes or consider the types of lights in the home.
, Fla. —
Duke Energy Florida announced a planned decrease of residential customer rates beginning next March, saying the company intends to lift the storm cost recovery charge currently being imposed on customers.
The utility plans to drop the storm cost recovery charge in March 2026 after placing it on customers’ bills in March of this year, following back-to-back-to-back hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton last storm season.
Residential customers using 1,000 kwh (kilowatt-hour) of electricity will see their bills drop approximately $44 compared to February 2026.
But the company said it expects bills for those same customers will increase from January to February next year by approximately $7.54.
The company had filed to increase costs in December 2024 and recover an estimated $1.1 billion in direct costs from all three hurricanes.
It maintains that those costs are related to the deployment of hundreds of crews, the acquisition of significant mutual assistance, and repairing, rebuilding and replacing critical infrastructure damaged by the catastrophic storm surge and wind.
But in recent months, some customers have been voicing frustrations with what they call exorbitant increases in their monthly bills.
“They have been flying up,” said Michele Miller of Clermont.
Miller lives in a 2,400 sq. ft. home with three window AC units.
“It used to be $418, which is so ridiculous. We don’t have central heat and air, so we just have units, and now it $525. It just went up this month.”
“There’s times when we don’t even make it paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “It’s paycheck to probably a week before the next paycheck. It’s extremely rough.”
Other customers WESH 2 spoke with describe monthly bills in excess of $600 and $700.
Wei Sun, a professor of electrical engineering at UCF with expertise in electric power and energy systems, said customers will always want bills lowered, but utilities will continue to pass along the costs for both storm rebuilding and for grid hardening.
“Even we have hurricanes, but we probably look at history, there’s a faster recovery, and even you can make a grid more robust to be able to resist those high-speed winds,” Sun said.
He said those who have the ability should look into solar panels for the roofs of their homes or consider the types of lights in the home.
The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has requested funding to develop the site, and Chester County is actively preparing for the project. Rezoning requests for Duke Energy-owned properties are set to be reviewed by the county planning commission on Sept. 16.
The planning commission will consider zoning changes for six properties that total more than 800 acres. These properties include the approximately 500-acre Dearborn Island, also known as Big Island, located between Great Falls and the Stumpy Pond Access Area in Lancaster County, and the over 300-acre Mountain Island situated just north of it.
Simplicity Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Free Report) by 91.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,195 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its position in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Duke Energy Trading Up 0.8 %
NYSE DUK opened at $115.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.16. The firm has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $85.79 and a one year high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Duke Energy Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.
Insider Activity at Duke Energy
In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.15.
Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.
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Duke Energy Florida issued Pinellas County estimated times of restoration for the barrier islands following Hurricane Helene.
All customers in these communities who are capable of receiving power will be restored by 11:59pm on Saturday, October 5th, with the majority restored by 11:59pm on Friday, October 4th.
“We understand that having power is necessary for our customers to be able to rebuild and get back on their feet,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Our crews continue to work tirelessly to meet our estimated times of restoration in order to help our customers and their families move forward with recovery.”
The following are the estimated times of restoration from Duke Energy Florida for Pinellas County:
North Barrier Island
Clearwater Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Belleair Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Belleair Shores – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Indian Rocks Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Town of Indian Shores – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Middle Barrier Island
Town of Redington Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Town of N. Redington Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Town of Redington Shores – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
Madeira Beach – Saturday, October 5th at 11:59pm
South Barrier Island
Treasure Island – Saturday, October 5th at 11:59pm
St. Pete Beach – Friday, October 4th at 11:59pm
“We will continue to be easily accessible and maintain an open line of communication with our customers even after their power is restored,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “After such extensive destruction, many communities face a lengthy and trying recovery process, but we are here to help and will be with them every step of the way.”
Duke Energy Florida has mobilized customer care units in severely impacted areas. Company representatives will be onsite to answer questions and provide account assistance. They will be available in the following locations on Friday, October 4th:
Madeira Beach City Hall
300 Municipal Drive, Madeira Beach, FL 33708
8am-5pm
Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber
6990 Gulf Boulevard, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
8am-5pm
Sheraton Sand Key Resort
1160 Gulf Boulevard, Clearwater Beach, FL 33767
8am-5pm
Daystar Life Center of Citrus County
6751 W. Gulf to Lake Highway, Crystal River, FL 34429
9am-2pm
Customers who have damage to the electrical service that serves their homes or businesses should contact Duke Energy Florida. An onsite visit will be conducted to determine if there is a need to de-energize the property for safety. The customer will then need to contact a licensed electrician to make repairs, followed by the local municipality to schedule an inspection. After the inspection is complete, the customer must contact Duke Energy Florida to request restoration of service.
Customers who need power to rebuild their homes or businesses should contact their local municipality to relay their intent and obtain a 911 address for the property. Then, the customer will need to request that Duke Energy Florida establish electric service on a temporary pole on the property. After an electrician installs a temporary service pole and meter base, the customer must apply to the city or county for an electrical inspection and ensure the municipality sends the inspection to Duke Energy Florida to have electric service connected.
Customers who need assistance paying their utility bills can learn more about programs that may be available to help online or calling 800-700-8744.
For individual estimated times of restoration, customers can use Duke Energy’s Outage Map.
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
For the second time this year, a typical Duke Energy Florida customer will see lower electric bills, this time because of a rate reduction the company is proposing to begin in June to reflect anticipated lower fuel prices.
The company filed a fuel midcourse rate request with the Florida Public Service Commission to account for lower projections for natural gas costs.
Under the proposal, a typical Florida residential customer with a monthly usage of 1,000 kWh would see their bill decline by $5.90, or almost 4%. The savings would be on top of a $11.29 decrease, or about 6%, a decrease that typical residential bills began showing in January.
Similarly, typical commercial and industrial customers will see a bill decrease between 3.5% and 7.0%, varying based on factors, such as industry type and differences in customer use patterns.
“With fuel prices expected to decline, we have an opportunity to lower rates for a second time this year for our customers, just as we prepare for the higher energy usage that come with summer months,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We remain committed to providing the best possible price for Florida’s growing population, while delivering the reliable power and customer service our customers deserve today, tomorrow and for many years to come.”
Duke Energy Florida ensures customers receive the best service to their homes, businesses and communities through expertly managing its fuel resources, and its complex systems of power generation, transformers, wires and poles across 13,000 square miles – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, under the most challenging conditions.
The company also offers several easy-to-use energy efficiency programs and tools to help Florida customers have more control over their energy use and bills.
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 12,300 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.
