Duke Energy : Bonds save $35 million from historic storm costs over past decade for Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina

• New storm recovery line item to appear on bills starting in May

• Securitizing these costs through the sale of bonds - enabled by the legislature and approved by the Public Service Commission of South Carolina - reduces costs to customers by 20%

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina will save $35 million in repair costs from a series of historic storms from 2014 through 2022 thanks to innovative legislation allowing the company to securitize the costs through the sale of lower interest rate bonds.

Residential customers in the Pee Dee region of the state using 1,000 kWh per month will save about 33% compared to traditional storm cost recovery approaches, with bills initially increasing approximately $8.38 per month in the first few months and then decreasing to about $5 per month in early 2025. The line item will appear as a "storm recovery charge" beginning in May bills.

Duke Energy Progress serves about 175,000 households and businesses in northeastern South Carolina, including Florence, Sumter and Darlington counties.

Legislation passed in 2022 gives the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) the authority to approve the securitization of storm costs through issuing bonds if a proposed plan submitted by a utility would result in lower overall costs for customers. In 2023, the PSCSC approved the company's securitization plan.

The company successfully completed a $177 million storm recovery bond financing effort in April that will save customers $35 million over the next 20 years.

"Securitization through bond financing is a prudent, proactive, cost-effective response to the significant storm costs that we've incurred responding to truly devastating weather impacts in our state over the past decade," said Michael Callahan, Duke Energy's South Carolina president. "We are constantly mindful of customer bills, so we're very pleased this new cost recovery tool enabled us to significantly reduce the financing costs of storm repair costs for our customers."

Why securitization?

In recent years, South Carolina households and businesses have endured a number of record-breaking storms, floods and associated severe weather-related outages. Within a four-month span in 2018 alone, hurricanes Florence and Michael and winter storm Diego claimed lives, crippled communities and destroyed homes and businesses across the state. Significant devastation resulted in hundreds of millions in costs incurred by utility companies in the state, including Duke Energy. These unprecedented costs include completely rebuilding the power grid in some locations.

Under a securitization plan, bonds are issued in the financial markets at lower interest rates and the proceeds are used to pay for the extraordinary storm-related expenses incurred. These expenses can include everything from planning and staging for the storms, the work of line technicians, damage assessors and contractors to the reconstruction, replacement and repair of electric generation, transmission or distribution equipment and facilities.

Visit duke-energy.com/SRC to learn more about securitization.

Duke Energy Progress

Duke Energy Progress, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 13,800 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.7 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 28,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition, keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and advanced nuclear.

More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.

Contact: Ryan Mosier
24-Hour: 800.559.3853