Duke Energy Florida will remove its storm cost recovery charge a month earlier than planned after fully recovering the $1.1 billion spent responding to hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton. Beginning in February, residential customers will see an average $33 reduction per 1,000 kWh compared to January, followed by an additional $11 decrease in March reflecting the utility’s seasonal rate adjustment—totaling $44 in savings per 1,000 kWh. Commercial and industrial customers will benefit from bill decreases ranging from 9.6 percent to 15.8 percent versus January, depending on usage patterns. The accelerated removal aims to alleviate financial pressure on the company’s 2 million customers across a 13,000-square-mile territory, as Duke Energy Florida continues investing in reliability while passing through efficiency savings from $340 million in natural gas plant improvements, $750 million from three new solar sites and $65 million in Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.

Duke Energy has commissioned a $100 million, 50 MW, four-hour lithium-ion battery energy storage system at its former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie, delivering service to North Carolina and South Carolina customers ahead of schedule. Final testing is underway, and construction will begin in May on a second, 167 MW four-hour BESS—Duke Energy’s largest to date—on the demolished emissions control site. Both systems qualify for a 40 percent federal investment tax credit, including an additional 10 percent bonus for reinvestment in an energy community. These projects support Duke Energy’s 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan under review by regulators, which calls for adding 6,550 MW of battery capacity by 2035—enough to power over 5 million homes during peak demand—while repurposing legacy coal plant sites and leveraging excess clean generation from nearby nuclear facilities.