NC regulators deny Duke Energy’s $584 million gas turbine proposal near Amazon data center

North Carolina regulators have denied Duke Energy’s request to build a $584 million natural gas turbine near Hamlet, saying the utility has not shown that the project is needed or adequately explained how customers would be protected from its costs.

2026-09-18

The decision blocks the proposed expansion of Duke’s Sherwood H. Smith Energy Complex for now. Duke can reapply, but the North Carolina Utilities Commission said it must provide more evidence about its forecast for electricity demand, the project’s costs and whether other options could meet that demand more affordably.

Duke proposed adding a turbine capable of generating about 255 megawatts of electricity by 2030. The existing power plant sits next to the site of Amazon’s planned $10 billion data center campus in Richmond County. The commission did not determine that the turbine would serve Amazon specifically.

In its order Friday, the commission said much of the growth Duke anticipates appears tied to future data centers. Regulators have not finished reviewing Duke’s forecast and said approving the turbine before establishing the need for it would put customers at risk of paying for an expensive project that may not deliver enough value.

The Public Staff, which represents customers in utility proceedings, recommended approving the turbine despite describing its cost as “staggering.” One commissioner dissented from the denial, saying the project is needed to keep the grid reliable as electricity demand grows.

Duke has previously told WRAL that large customers, including data centers, pay the direct costs of connecting to its system. Power plant costs are shared among customers based on how much electricity and generating capacity they use, the company said. Duke also said its agreements with large customers include minimum bills, termination penalties and financial guarantees intended to protect other customers if a project does not go as planned.

The commission said Duke had not shown how those protections and its commitments under a federal ratepayer protection pledge would apply to this turbine. If Duke reapplies, regulators want it to explain how the project would be paid for, how much of the anticipated demand is tied to data centers and whether other resources could provide reliable power at a lower cost.