AI interpretation based on checked source excerpts. Issuer assertions and evidence limitations remain explicit.
Policy quality-scores-3: six equally weighted categories. The overall score requires full coverage. Missing inputs are not zero. Qualitative grades are sourced interpretations, not probabilities. 6/6 · 29/10/2026
Moat63
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
structural advantage · 3/4 · Integrated electric service to approximately 8.7 million customers establishes substantial operating infrastructure. Actual storm-cost securitization and rate-case pricing gains demonstrate regulatory recovery alongside that infrastructure. This supports a strong incumbent position, although exclusive territories and comparative duplication costs are not established.
durability · 3/4 · Twenty-seven consecutive years of nuclear capacity factor above 90% demonstrate sustained asset utilization. Robinson’s issued renewal extends operating permission through 2050. Together with realized recovery, this supports durable usefulness, subject to regulatory approval, future capital needs and continued operating performance rather than guaranteed economic returns.
customer dependency · 2/4 · Carolinas customer growth and continued electricity sales indirectly demonstrate reliance on the installed system. Executed hyperscale service agreements add contractual demand evidence, but future load is not delivered demand. Gas service can generally be cancelled without substantive penalty, limiting evidence of contractual lock-in across the group.
erosion resilience · 2/4 · Storm-cost securitization and fuel-cost recovery demonstrate adaptation and partial insulation. Regulatory settlement charges show protection is incomplete, and 2023 sales-growth pressure already reflected efficiency adoption and rooftop solar. Broader distributed-generation and stranded-cost disclosures remain prospective risks, not proof of realized widespread displacement.
Pricing power50
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
realized pricing · 3/4 · GU&I reported $98 million of additional 2025 revenue from Piedmont North Carolina rate-case pricing. Carolinas reported $59 million from higher pricing in first-half 2026, including the nuclear PTC decrement rider. These demonstrate regulated pricing outcomes; separately disclosed fuel-revenue increases reflect commodity costs, rates and volumes rather than discretionary pricing.
retention · 2/4 · Carolinas average customers increased 1.7% and GWh sales increased 0.6% in first-half 2026 versus first-half 2025, supporting recurring demand indirectly. Industrial sales declined 1.4%. Service agreements support continued reliance, but net growth does not measure customer retention, and gas cancellation terms provide limited contractual protection.
margin resilience · 2/4 · Fuel recovery limits commodity-cost effects on electric operating results, subject to prudence findings and cash-flow delays. GU&I operating income rose from $798 million to $903 million in 2025, but Carolinas first-half operating income declined from $1.303 billion to $1.262 billion in 2026 despite higher revenue. Protection is demonstrably partial.
contractual freedom · 1/4 · State commissions approve retail electric and gas rates, and regulators periodically adjust revenue requirements using costs, volumes and capital costs. Actual rate increases demonstrate access to recovery, but do not establish unilateral pricing discretion. The disclosed approval framework directly constrains freedom to set customer prices.
Predictability75
5 consecutive published annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.
- Nondeclining revenue years (%)
- 100.00
- Revenue growth volatility (pp)
- 5.01
- Positive FCF years (%)
- 20.00
- FCF margin volatility (pp)
- 6.33
- observedAnnualPeriods
- 5.00
Financial strength3
Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense. Reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.
- debtFcfGrade
- 0.00
- netDebtEbitGrade
- 0.00
- interestCoverageGrade
- 12.49
- currentRatioGrade
- 0.00
- Net debt / operating income (x)
- 10.39
- Interest coverage (x)
- 2.37
- Current ratio (x)
- 0.55
Capital allocation54
Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense; the issuer-reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. ROIC remains undefined for nonpositive invested capital; the explicit asset-return alternative does not change the ROIC chart. Missing financial inputs alone never trigger an alternative. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.
- 3-year pre-tax operating return (%)
- 5.91
- 3-year average dilution (%)
- 0.30
- 3-year average SBC / revenue (%)
- 0.32
- cashConversionGrade
- 0.00
Management56
Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.
capital discipline · 2/4 · Reported 2025 FFO/debt of 14.8% and completed minority funding demonstrate financing execution. However, annual capital, investment and acquisition expenditures reached $14.002 billion, and April 2026 convertible settlement required approximately $1.7 billion cash plus 1.4 million shares. These show substantial capital demands; realized returns on expanded investment remain unestablished.
incentive alignment · 2/4 · Actual ownership/holding-policy compliance and equity compensation establish alignment mechanisms. Performance shares use three-year adjusted EPS, relative TSR and safety measures; RSUs vest over three years. Alternative holding compliance and committee discretion over short-term incentives temper the assessment. These are adopted arrangements, but their effectiveness is not demonstrated by design alone.
execution · 3/4 · Historical nuclear utilization, an issued Robinson renewal, solar and storage placed into service, storm-cost securitization and a completed disposal demonstrate operating and transaction execution. This judgment relies on disclosed achievements rather than management’s general claims. Regulatory settlement charges temper the record and do not support an exceptional grade.
governance · 2/4 · An independent chair and disclosed committee responsibilities establish concrete oversight structures. However, the May 2026 proposal to eliminate supermajority requirements failed despite support from 66.39% of outstanding shares, leaving the required 80% threshold intact. Board support for reform is constructive, but the observed shareholder-authority constraint remains.
Evidence
EU&I provides retail electric service through the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity to approximately 8.7 million customers within the Southeast and Midwest regions of the U.S.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, Business — EU&I retail service and integrated operations · Filed 26/02/2026
In such environments, revenue requirements are adjusted periodically by regulators based on factors including levels of costs, sales volumes and costs of capital.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, regulated revenue requirements · Filed 26/02/2026
• We worked with regulators and other stakeholders to recover and securitize nearly $3 billion worth of storm costs, approximately one year after major 2024 hurricanes, • 2025 marked the 99th consecutive year we continued our dividend commitment to our shareholders.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, reported storm-cost recovery and securitization · Filed 20/03/2026
• This was the 27th consecutive year of nuclear capacity factor exceeding 90%.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, historical nuclear capacity factor · Filed 20/03/2026
In April 2026, the NRC issued a subsequent license renewal for Robinson, extending operations through 2050.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, April 2026 Robinson license renewal · Filed 04/08/2026
Operating Revenues. The variance was driven primarily by: •a $429 million increase in cost of natural gas revenues primarily due to higher commodity prices; •a $98 million increase due to higher pricing from the 2024 Piedmont North Carolina rate case; •a $21 million increase in Midwest rider revenue; and •a $13 million increase due to improved weather in the Midwest.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, GU&I operating-revenue variance · Filed 26/02/2026
The variance was driven primarily by: •a $223 million increase in fuel revenues due to higher fuel rates and volumes; •a $76 million increase in weather-normal retail sales volumes; •a $59 million increase due to higher pricing, including the nuclear PTC decrement rider, from the impacts of new rates implemented for the North Carolina MYRP and the 2025 South Carolina rate case; •a $37 million increase in rider revenue primarily due to North Carolina storm securitization; and •a $27 million increase in retail sales due to improved weather compared to the prior year.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, Duke Energy Carolinas first-half revenue variance · Filed 04/08/2026
RATE-RELATED INFORMATION The NCUC, PSCSC, FPSC, IURC, PUCO, TPUC and KPSC approve rates for retail electric and natural gas services within their states.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, retail rate approval requirements · Filed 26/02/2026
Operating Expenses. The variance was driven primarily by: •a $189 million increase in fuel used in electric generation and purchased power primarily due to higher purchased power costs, including JDA, and natural gas prices, partially offset by lower fuel cost recovery and the prior year retirement of renewable energy credits; •a $143 million increase in depreciation and amortization primarily due to higher depreciable base, the prior year retirement of renewable energy credits, and the impact of new rates implemented for the North Carolina MYRP; •a $94 million increase in operation, maintenance and other primarily due to increased costs related to a legal settlement and higher storm costs in the current year associated with Winter Storm Fern; and •a $28 million increase in impairment of assets and other charges primarily due to regulatory settlements related to the 2025 North Carolina rate case.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, Duke Energy Carolinas first-half expense variance and regulatory settlement charges · Filed 04/08/2026
Growth in weather-normal sales volumes, however, was lower in 2023 compared to 2022 due primarily to the continuation of energy efficiency adoption, rooftop solar and broad weakness across industrial sectors.
2023 Form 10-K, filed 2024-02-23, EU&I observed weather-normal sales-growth pressures · Filed 23/02/2024
◦Federal and state regulations, laws and other efforts designed to promote and expand the use of energy efficiency measures, natural gas electrification, and distributed generation technologies, such as private solar and battery storage, in Duke Energy service territories could result in a reduced number of customers, excess generation resources as well as stranded costs;
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, prospective distributed-generation and stranded-cost risks · Filed 04/08/2026
These factors in turn could decrease the demand for natural gas, impair GU&I's ability to attract new customers and cause existing customers to switch to other forms of energy or to bypass GU&I's systems in favor of alternative competitive sources.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, prospective GU&I energy substitution and bypass risk · Filed 26/02/2026
The Duke Energy Registrants rely on access to short-term borrowings and longer-term debt and equity markets to finance their capital requirements and support their liquidity needs.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, capital-market financing dependence · Filed 26/02/2026
Increase (Decrease) over prior year 2026 Residential sales 1.2 % Commercial sales 0.8 % Industrial sales (1.4) % Wholesale power sales 0.6 % Joint dispatch sales 6.9 % Total sales 0.6 % Average number of customers 1.7 % Six Months Ended June 30, 2026, as compared to June 30, 2025 Operating Revenues.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, Duke Energy Carolinas first-half GWh sales and average-customer changes · Filed 04/08/2026
To serve this demand responsibly, we executed electric service agreements for multiple hyperscale data centers representing cumulative contracted load of over 4.5 gigawatts, ensuring these customers contribute appropriately to the systems required to serve them.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, executed hyperscale data-center service agreements · Filed 20/03/2026
Additionally, natural gas service is typically at will and customers can cancel service at any time, without a substantive penalty.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, natural-gas service cancellation terms · Filed 26/02/2026
Due to the associated regulatory treatment and the method allowed for recovery, changes in fuel costs from year to year have no material impact on operating results of EU&I, unless a commission finds a portion of such costs to have been imprudent.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, EU&I fuel-cost recovery and prudence exception · Filed 26/02/2026
However, delays between the expenditure for fuel costs and recovery from customers can adversely impact the timing of cash flows of EU&I.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, fuel-cost recovery cash-flow timing · Filed 26/02/2026
Gas Utilities and Infrastructure Years Ended December 31, (in millions) 2025 2024 Variance Operating Revenues $ 3,003 $ 2,390 $ 613 Operating Expenses Cost of natural gas 983 565 418 Operation, maintenance and other 518 478 40 Depreciation and amortization 435 400 35 Property and other taxes 164 149 15 Total operating expenses 2,100 1,592 508 Operating Income 903 798 105 Other income and expenses, net 68 10 58 Interest Expense 267 256 11 Income Before Income Taxes 704 552 152 Income Tax Expense 146 99 47 Less: Net Loss Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest (1) (1) — Segment Income $ 559 $ 454 $ 105 Piedmont Local Distribution Company (LDC) throughput (Dth) 614,062,646 616,724,667 (2,662,021) Duke Energy Midwest LDC throughput (MCF) 90,651,428 77,923,033 12,728,395 Year Ended December 31, 2025, as compared to 2024 GU&I’s results were impacted primarily by higher revenues from the 2024 Piedmont North Carolina rate case and lower impairments on certain renewable natural gas investments in the current year, partially offset by higher operation and maintenance and depreciation expenses.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, GU&I 2025 versus 2024 results, in millions, and throughput · Filed 26/02/2026
106 MD&A DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS DUKE ENERGY CAROLINAS Results of Operations Six Months Ended June 30, (in millions) 2026 2025 Variance Operating Revenues $ 5,182 $ 4,755 $ 427 Operating Expenses Fuel used in electric generation and purchased power 1,563 1,374 189 Operation, maintenance and other 1,078 984 94 Depreciation and amortization 1,057 914 143 Property and other taxes 197 187 10 Impairment of assets and other charges 27 (1) 28 Total operating expenses 3,922 3,458 464 Gains (Losses) on Sales of Other Assets and Other, net 2 6 (4) Operating Income 1,262 1,303 (41) Other Income and Expenses, net 133 122 11 Interest Expense 449 400 49 Income Before Income Taxes 946 1,025 (79) Income Tax Expense 44 87 (43) Net Income $ 902 $ 938 $ (36) The following table shows the percent changes in GWh sales and average number of customers.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, Duke Energy Carolinas six-month results, in millions · Filed 04/08/2026
Years Ended December 31, (in millions) 2025 2024 Variance Capital, investment and acquisition expenditures, net of return of investment capital $ (14,002) $ (12,263) $ (1,739) Debt and equity securities, net 117 100 17 Proceeds from the sales of Commercial Renewables Disposal Groups and other assets, net of cash divested 626 49 577 Other investing items (1,079) (1,009) (70) Net cash used in investing activities $ (14,338) $ (13,123) $ (1,215) The variance is driven by higher capital expenditures within the EU&I segment, partially offset by proceeds received in the current year from the sale of the Commercial Renewables Disposal Groups.
2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-02-26, consolidated annual investing cash flows, in millions · Filed 26/02/2026
Six Months Ended June 30, (in millions) 2026 2025 Variance Issuance of long-term debt, net $ 1,633 $ 3,033 $ (1,400) Issuance of common stock — 14 (14) Notes payable, commercial paper and other short-term borrowings (365) (190) (175) Dividends paid (1,693) (1,610) (83) Contributions from NCI 2,827 — 2,827 Other financing items 22 (2) 24 Net cash provided by financing activities $ 2,424 $ 1,245 $ 1,179 The variance is primarily due to: •a $2.8 billion increase in proceeds received from the initial closing of Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners' minority interest investment in Florida Progress.
Second-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-08-04, consolidated first-half financing cash flows and initial minority investment closing · Filed 04/08/2026
In accordance with the terms of the indenture and at the Company's election, Duke Energy paid approximately $1.7 billion in cash equal to the aggregate principal amount of the Notes due 2026 and issued 1.4 million shares of its common stock to settle the conversion premium, as the conversion value exceeded the principal amount of the Notes due 2026.
First-quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, filed 2026-05-05, April 2026 convertible-note settlement cash and share issuance · Filed 05/05/2026
• We raised our long-term FFO/Debt target to 15% and achieved 14.8% in 2025.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, reported 2025 FFO/debt achievement and revised target · Filed 20/03/2026
Under these guidelines, each of our active NEOs must own Duke Energy shares in accordance with the following schedule:
Leadership Position
Value of Shares
CEO
6x Base Salary
Other NEOs
3x Base Salary
A NEO also can satisfy the policy by holding 50% of all shares acquired under the LTI program (after payment of any applicable taxes) and 100% of all shares acquired upon the exercise of stock options (after payment of the exercise price and taxes).
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, executive stock ownership and alternative holding requirements · Filed 20/03/2026
Each of our NEOs was in compliance with the stock ownership/stock holding policy during 2025.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, executive ownership/holding policy compliance during 2025 · Filed 20/03/2026
In order to emphasize pay for performance, the 2025 – 2027 performance shares vest at the end of the three-year performance period based on the achievement of three performance goals: (i) our cumulative adjusted EPS compared to pre-established targets (40% weighting); (ii) our relative TSR compared to the companies in the UTY (40% weighting); and (iii) a safety measure based on our TICR compared to similar companies in the EEI Group 1 Large Company Index (20% weighting).
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, 2025–2027 performance-share vesting metrics and weights · Filed 20/03/2026
Element
Performance Metrics Aligned to Strategy
Base Salary
•
Cash
Short-Term
Incentive
•
Short-Term Cash Incentive
Measured over a one-year period:
•
Adjusted EPS
•
O&M
•
Operational Excellence (safety, environmental, and reliability)
•
Customer Satisfaction
•
Energy Modernization (non-emitting MW capacity growth)
•
Individual Performance Goals and Modifier (based on individual performance)
Long-Term
Equity
Incentive
•
Performance Shares (70%)
Measured over a three-year period:
•
Cumulative Adjusted EPS
•
Relative TSR
•
Safety
•
RSUs (30%)
•
Subject to continued employment, vest in equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the date of grant
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, 2025 compensation structure, measurement periods and RSU vesting · Filed 20/03/2026
BUILDING A SMARTER ENERGY FUTURE®
DUKE ENERGY 2026 PROXY STATEMENT 53
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Performance Modifier (+/- 25%)
The STI plan provides the Compensation and People Development Committee with flexibility to apply a performance modifier to each named executive officer.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, short-term incentive performance-modifier discretion · Filed 20/03/2026
• We placed more than 300 megawatts of solar and 175 megawatts of storage into service across the Carolinas and Florida to continue to diversify generation mix.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, solar and storage capacity placed into service · Filed 20/03/2026
On March 31, 2026, Piedmont closed on the sale of its Tennessee business.
Second-quarter 2026 earnings release, filed 2026-08-04, completed Piedmont Tennessee disposal on March 31, 2026 · Filed 04/08/2026
Mr. Craver has served as Independent Chair of the Board since April 2025 and previously served as Lead Independent Director from May 2022 to April 2025.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, independent board chair tenure · Filed 20/03/2026
• The Corporate Governance Committee assists the Board in its annual determination of director independence and review of any related person transactions, as well as the Board’s annual assessment of the Board and each of its committees.
2026 proxy, filed 2026-03-20, governance committee independence, related-person transaction and assessment responsibilities · Filed 20/03/2026
an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Duke Energy Corporation to eliminate supermajority voting requirements
For
Against
Abstain
Broker
Non-Votes
Votes Cast FOR
Shares Outstanding
516,664,589
7,507,137
2,985,601
143,394,191
66.39
%
The management proposal regarding
an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Duke Energy Corporation to eliminate supermajority voting requirements
Annual-meeting results Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-13, Proposal 4 voting totals and percentage of outstanding shares · Filed 13/05/2026
failed to receive the required support of 80% of the shares outstanding.
Annual-meeting results Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-13, failure to obtain required 80% support for eliminating supermajority requirements · Filed 13/05/2026
