N.C. Appeals Court Overturns 2024 Duke Fuel Riders Over Misapplied Law

Overview

• North Carolina’s Court of Appeals reversed the Utilities Commission’s 2024 fuel rider approvals for Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress.
• The panel held that N.C.G.S. § 62-133.2(d), as it then read, allowed true-ups only for fuel costs incurred during the designated test period.
• The court declined to order refunds, reasoning that Session Law 2025-78 enables utilities to recoup those amounts in future proceedings, and remanded for an order consistent with the ruling.
• The unanimous decision came in unpublished opinions joined by Judges John Arrowood, Jefferson Griffin and Michael Stading.
• Fuel riders are annual pass-through adjustments using an experience modification factor to true-up prior variances, and Duke Energy Carolinas had reported roughly $998 million in unrecovered 2022 fuel costs with about $8 million still outstanding the following year.