• Duke Energy says it has executed 7.6GW of data-centre electric service agreements within a 15.4GW large-load portfolio
  • About 5GW is associated with projects under construction, with much of that load expected to begin taking power from late 2027 through 2028

The fact

Duke Energy says its executed electric service agreements cover 7.6GW of data-centre demand within a 15.4GW portfolio of large-load agreements. The utility says about 5GW of the data-centre total is associated with projects under construction. Duke says much of that 5GW is expected to begin taking energy from the second half of 2027 through 2028 and ramp towards full contracted load in the early 2030s. A further 2.7GW is expected to begin taking power in the early to middle 2030s.

The company says its large-load agreements can include customer-funded connection costs, long-term commitments, financial security and termination protections intended to protect existing customers.

The assessment

The agreements give Duke more certainty about which large-load projects intend to take power. Customers have signed contracts with financial obligations, giving the utility a stronger basis for planning grid investment than early-stage requests alone.

But signing an agreement does not mean the load is ready to connect. Duke still has to complete the infrastructure needed to supply individual projects. Much of the roughly 5GW associated with projects under construction is expected to begin taking power only from late 2027 through 2028, with demand increasing further after that. For BTW readers, the 7.6GW is contracted future demand, not current electricity load. The next test is whether projects reach first energy on schedule and begin turning those agreements into actual demand on Duke’s system.

What to watch

Watch whether the roughly 5GW Duke describes as under construction begins taking power from late 2027 through 2028 as planned. When individual projects actually start receiving power, along with any cancellations or changes to contracted load, will show how much of the signed 7.6GW is becoming actual electricity demand.