Duke Energy 10-Q 2026-03-31

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2026

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number			Registrant, State of Incorporation or Organization, Address of Principal Executive Offices, Zip Code and Telephone Number						IRS Employer Identification No.
1-32853			DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION						20-2777218

(a Delaware corporation)

525 South Tryon Street

Charlotte, North Carolina 28202

800-488-3853

(a North Carolina limited liability company)

525 South Tryon Street

Charlotte, North Carolina 28202

800-488-3853

(a North Carolina corporation)

411 Fayetteville Street

Raleigh, North Carolina 27601

800-488-3853

(a North Carolina limited liability company)

411 Fayetteville Street

Raleigh, North Carolina 27601

800-488-3853

(a Florida limited liability company)

299 First Avenue North

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

800-488-3853

(an Ohio corporation)

139 East Fourth Street

Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

800-488-3853

(an Indiana limited liability company)

1000 East Main Street

Plainfield, Indiana 46168

800-488-3853

(a North Carolina corporation)

525 South Tryon Street

Charlotte, North Carolina 28202

800-488-3853

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE ACT:

Name of each exchange on

Registrant Title of each class Trading symbols which registered

Duke Energy Common Stock, $0.001 par value DUK New York Stock Exchange LLC

Duke Energy 5.625% Junior Subordinated Debentures due DUKB New York Stock Exchange LLC

September 15, 2078

Duke Energy Depositary Shares, each representing a 1/1,000th DUK PR A New York Stock Exchange LLC

interest in a share of 5.75% Series A Cumulative

Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value

$0.001 per share

Duke Energy 3.10% Senior Notes due 2028 DUK 28A New York Stock Exchange LLC

Duke Energy 3.85% Senior Notes due 2034 DUK 34 New York Stock Exchange LLC

Duke Energy 3.75% Senior Notes due 2031 DUK 31A New York Stock Exchange LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Number of shares of common stock outstanding at April 30, 2026:

This combined Form 10-Q is filed separately by eight registrants: Duke Energy, Duke Energy Carolinas, Progress Energy, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Indiana and Piedmont (collectively the Duke Energy Registrants). Information contained herein relating to any individual registrant is filed by such registrant solely on its own behalf. Each registrant makes no representation as to information relating exclusively to the other registrants.

Duke Energy Carolinas, Progress Energy, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Indiana and Piedmont meet the conditions set forth in General Instructions H(1)(a) and (b) of Form 10-Q and are therefore filing this form with the reduced disclosure format specified in General Instructions H(2) of Form 10-Q.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Glossary of Terms

The following terms or acronyms used in this Form 10-Q are defined below:

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and can often be identified by terms and phrases that include “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “continue,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “will,” “potential,” “forecast,” “target,” “guidance,” “outlook” or other similar terminology. Various factors may cause actual results to be materially different than the suggested outcomes within forward-looking statements; accordingly, there is no assurance that such results will be realized. These factors include, but are not limited to:

◦The ability to implement our business strategy, including meeting forecasted load growth demand, grid and fleet modernization objectives, and reducing carbon emissions, while balancing customer reliability and keeping costs as low as possible for our customers;

◦State, federal and foreign legislative and regulatory initiatives, including costs of compliance with existing and future environmental requirements and/or uncertainty of applicability or changes to such legislative and regulatory initiatives, including those related to climate change, as well as rulings that affect cost and investment recovery or have an impact on rate structures or market prices;

◦The extent and timing of costs and liabilities to comply with federal and state laws, regulations and legal requirements related to coal ash remediation, including amounts for required closure of certain ash impoundments, are uncertain and difficult to estimate;

◦The ability to timely recover eligible costs, including amounts associated with coal ash impoundment retirement obligations, asset retirement and construction costs related to carbon emissions reductions, and costs related to significant weather events, particularly in periods of heightened customer affordability concerns, bill volatility, or public and political scrutiny, and to earn an adequate return on investment through rate case proceedings and the regulatory process;

◦The costs of decommissioning nuclear facilities could prove to be more extensive than amounts estimated and all costs may not be fully recoverable through the regulatory process;

◦The impact of extraordinary external events, such as a global pandemic, trade wars or military conflict, and their collateral consequences, including the disruption of global supply chains or the economic activity in our service territories;

◦Costs and effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations and claims;

◦Industrial, commercial and residential decline in service territories or customer bases resulting from sustained downturns of the economy, storm damage, reduced customer usage due to cost pressures from inflation, tariffs, or fuel costs, worsening economic health of our service territories, reductions in customer usage patterns, or lower than anticipated load growth, particularly if usage of electricity by data centers is less than currently projected, energy efficiency efforts, natural gas building and appliance electrification, and use of alternative energy sources, such as self-generation and distributed generation technologies;

◦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;

◦Advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence;

◦Additional competition in electric and natural gas markets, municipalization and continued industry consolidation;

◦The influence of weather and other natural phenomena on operations, financial position, and cash flows, including the economic, operational and other effects of severe storms, hurricanes, droughts, earthquakes and tornadoes, including extreme weather associated with climate change;

◦Changing or conflicting investor, customer and other stakeholder expectations and demands, particularly regarding environmental, social and governance matters and costs related thereto;

◦The ability to successfully operate electric generating facilities and deliver electricity to customers, including direct or indirect effects to the Company resulting from an incident that affects the United States electric grid or generating resources;

◦Operational interruptions to our natural gas distribution and transmission activities;

◦The availability of adequate interstate pipeline transportation capacity and natural gas supply;

◦The impact on facilities and business from a terrorist or other attack, war, vandalism, cybersecurity threats, data security breaches, operational events, information technology failures or other catastrophic events, such as severe storms, fires, explosions, pandemic health events or other similar occurrences;

◦The inherent risks associated with the operation of nuclear facilities, including environmental, health, safety, regulatory and financial risks, including the financial stability of third-party service providers;

◦The timing and extent of changes in commodity prices, including any impact from increased tariffs, export controls and interest rates, and the ability to timely recover such costs through the regulatory process, where appropriate, and their impact on liquidity positions and the value of underlying assets;

◦The results of financing efforts, including the ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including credit ratings, interest rate fluctuations, compliance with debt covenants and conditions, an individual utility’s generation portfolio, and general market and economic conditions;

◦Credit ratings of the Duke Energy Registrants may be different from what is expected;

◦Declines in the market prices of equity and fixed-income securities and resultant cash funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans, other post-retirement benefit plans and nuclear decommissioning trust funds;

◦Construction and development risks associated with the completion of the Duke Energy Registrants’ capital investment projects, including risks related to financing, timing and receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, obtaining and complying with terms of permits, meeting construction budgets and schedules, obtaining sufficient skilled labor and satisfying operating and environmental performance standards, as well as the ability to recover costs from customers in a timely manner, or at all;

◦Changes in rules for regional transmission organizations, including changes in rate designs and new and evolving capacity markets, and risks related to obligations created by the default of other participants;

◦The ability to control operation and maintenance costs;

◦The level of creditworthiness of counterparties to transactions;

◦The ability to obtain adequate insurance at acceptable costs and recover on claims made;

◦Employee workforce factors, including the potential inability to attract and retain key personnel;

◦The ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or distributions to Duke Energy Corporation holding company (the Parent);

◦The performance of projects undertaken by our businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities;

◦The effect of accounting and reporting pronouncements issued periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies and the SEC;

◦The impact of United States tax legislation to our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows and our credit ratings;

◦The impacts from potential impairments of goodwill or investment carrying values;

◦Asset or business acquisitions and dispositions may not be consummated or yield the anticipated benefits, which could adversely affect our financial condition, credit metrics or ability to execute strategic and capital plans; and

◦The actions of activist shareholders could disrupt our operations, impact our ability to execute on our business strategy, or cause fluctuations in the trading price of our common stock.

Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in the Duke Energy Registrants' reports filed with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at sec.gov. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the events described in the forward-looking statements might not occur or might occur to a different extent or at a different time than described. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the Duke Energy Registrants expressly disclaim an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(Unaudited)

See Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

DUKE ENERGY CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(Unaudited)

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The following combined Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is separately filed by Duke Energy and Duke Energy Carolinas, Progress Energy, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Indiana and Piedmont. However, none of the registrants make any representation as to information related solely to Duke Energy or the Subsidiary Registrants of Duke Energy other than itself.

DUKE ENERGY

Duke Energy, an energy company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, operates in the U.S. primarily through its subsidiaries, Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Florida, Duke Energy Ohio, Duke Energy Indiana and Piedmont. Duke Energy’s consolidated financial information includes the results of the Subsidiary Registrants, which along with Duke Energy, are collectively referred to as the Duke Energy Registrants.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis should be read in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes for the three months ended March 31, 2026, and with Duke Energy’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Executive Overview

Executing on Strategic Transactions. Our service territories continue to experience accelerating investment opportunities driven by a deepening economic development pipeline and significant customer growth. In March, we closed on two previously announced strategic transactions to efficiently fund this growth and the related capital that will be required in the coming years. On March 3, 2026, we completed the first closing of a minority investment in Florida Progress, the holding company of Duke Energy Florida, by an affiliate of Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners. The initial investment resulted in the transfer of a 9.19% ownership interest for approximately $2.8 billion in cash proceeds, with additional staged investments anticipated through 2028. On March 31, 2026, following approval by the TPUC, we closed on the sale of Piedmont's Tennessee business with Spire, Inc., and received approximately $2.5 billion in cash proceeds. Closing on both transactions, along with our unwavering focus on operational excellence and value creation, demonstrates our continued ability to meet the unprecedented long-term growth anticipated across our service territories. See Note 2 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, "Dispositions," for further information.

Constructive Regulatory and Legislative Outcomes. During the three months ended March 31, 2026, we continued to move our regulatory strategy forward and execute on investments for building a smarter energy future while maintaining our focus on safety and operational excellence, our customers, growth of our business as well as the engagement and empowerment of our employees. These priorities enable us to provide strong, sustainable value for our customers, communities, employees and shareholders.

• During the first quarter, revised base rates went into effect for several of our jurisdictions including both Duke Energy Carolinas' and Duke Energy Progress' South Carolina service territories, as well as Duke Energy Kentucky's natural gas business. In March, Duke Energy Progress filed its first request under South Carolina’s electric Rate Stabilization Adjustment framework to facilitate timely cost recovery of the important grid investments we continue to make and to improve reliability across the service territory. Additionally, Duke Energy Ohio's electric business and Piedmont's South Carolina natural gas business filed new base rate applications in March and April, respectively. Our regulatory efforts will continue to focus on securing the critical investments necessary to provide customer value, delivering reliable natural gas and electric service and ensuring timely cost recovery across all of our jurisdictions.

• Duke Energy Carolinas received CECPCN approval from the PSCSC for a new CC unit in Anderson County, South Carolina. This advanced natural gas plant, along with our planned CTs and other CCs, will provide critical generation as we continue to modernize our energy infrastructure in the coming years. The PSCSC also accepted our latest Carolinas systemwide resource plan in April.

• Our nuclear sites continue to serve customers by safely producing clean, reliable and low-cost electricity, as well as providing economic benefits for our local communities, such as thousands of well-paying jobs and significant tax benefits. In February, we announced that our nuclear fleet achieved a new all-time reliability record for systemwide capacity factor. In April, the NRC issued a subsequent license renewal for Robinson, which provides for a 20-year extension of nuclear operations at the plant through 2050. Also in April, we executed a multi-year agreement to sell up to $3.1 billion of net tax credits with expected proceeds through 2029, including nuclear PTCs, in continued support of providing low-cost electricity to our customers.

• The FERC issued an order authorizing the proposal to combine our two electric utilities that operate in the Carolinas as consistent with the public interest. The companies also reached comprehensive settlements with intervenors in North Carolina and South Carolina resolving all issues related to the proposed combination, and received approvals from both the NCUC and the PSCSC. The targeted effective date of the combination is January 1, 2027.

Economic Development. Load growth across our service territories continues to be driven by a combination of population growth, economic development and increasing electrification, including growing demand from data centers. Data center‑related demand continues to contribute to this accelerated load growth as we expand our portfolio of data center electric service agreements, increasing contracted capacity while maintaining a disciplined approach focused on aligning incremental infrastructure investments with the customers driving the growth. These arrangements are designed to support system reliability and continued investment while helping manage cost impacts for other customers. These trends continue to support Duke Energy’s long‑term regulated capital plan while balancing reliability, customer value and growth.

Operational Excellence. The reliable and safe operation of our power generating facilities, electric transmission and distribution systems and natural gas infrastructure continues to be foundational to serving our customers, our financial results and our credibility with our communities and stakeholders. Operational excellence is especially critical to successfully navigate effective storm response and to efficiently provide the continuity of service our customers demand, regardless of weather or circumstance.

In late January, Winter Storm Fern moved across the eastern U.S., impacting all of our service territories. During the sustained subfreezing temperatures, customer energy use surged across the Carolinas and energy demand reached a new winter peak, the highest on record across our Carolinas' system. In addition to effectively managing the grid during this peak demand, we also proactively implemented storm preparation and response measures, including pre‑staging crews and equipment, coordination of mutual‑assistance resources and leveraging established restoration processes. We have previously experienced the benefit of these processes in supporting grid reliability and the achievement of timely and effective restoration for our customers during significant weather events that result in outages stemming from severe cold weather and ice.

See Notes 4 and 16 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, "Regulatory Matters" and "Income Taxes," along with "Other Matters," for additional information.

**Duke Ene

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For an in-depth discussion of the Duke Energy Registrants' market risks, see “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” in Item 7 of Duke Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Duke Energy Registrants in the reports they file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified by the SEC rules and forms.

Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the Duke Energy Registrants in the reports they file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the Duke Energy Registrants have evaluated the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of March 31, 2026, and based on this evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that these controls and procedures are effective in providing reasonable assurance of compliance.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the Duke Energy Registrants have evaluated changes in internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2026, and have concluded no change has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, internal controls over financial reporting.

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The litigation matter of NTE Carolinas II, LLC Litigation included in Part 1, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, within Note 5, "Commitments and Contingencies" of the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, is incorporated herein by reference.

For open litigation, unless otherwise noted, Duke Energy cannot predict the outcome or ultimate resolution of these matters.

MTBE Litigation

In December 2017, the state of Maryland filed suit in Baltimore City Circuit Court against Duke Energy Merchants and other defendants alleging contamination of state waters by MTBE leaking from gasoline storage tanks and is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages. MTBE is a gasoline additive intended to increase the oxygen levels in gasoline and make it burn cleaner. The case was removed from Baltimore City Circuit Court to federal District Court. In December 2020, the plaintiff and defendants selected 50 focus sites, none of which have any ties to Duke Energy Merchants. In November 2025, Duke Energy Merchants entered into a settlement agreement with the state of Maryland, which included the payment of an immaterial amount to resolve the litigation. Once this matter is dismissed, it will be fully resolved.

The Town of Carrboro Litigation

On December 4, 2024, the town of Carrboro, North Carolina, filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy in the North Carolina Superior Court, Orange County, alleging that Duke Energy and its predecessor companies knew since the late 1960s that fossil fuel emissions could cause global climate changes and engaged in a campaign to conceal the dangers of fossil fuel emissions from the public, regulators, legislators, and others, resulting in a delayed transition away from fossil fuel emissions and worsening climate change. On February 12, 2026, the court granted Duke Energy's motion to dismiss the litigation based on lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. In light of the dismissal, the court denied Duke Energy's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim as moot. In March 2026, the appeal window expired with no action taken by the town of Carrboro. This matter is now fully resolved.

Other Proceedings

In addition, the Duke Energy Registrants are, from time to time, parties to various lawsuits and regulatory proceedings in the ordinary course of their business. For information regarding legal proceedings, including regulatory and environmental matters, see Note 4, "Regulatory Matters," and Note 5, "Commitments and Contingencies," to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. For additional information, see Item 3, "Legal Proceedings," in Duke Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

In addition to the other information set forth in this report, careful consideration should be given to the factors discussed in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Duke Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, which could materially affect the Duke Energy Registrants’ financial condition or future results.

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

None.

Director and Officer Trading Arrangements

During the three months ended March 31, 2026, no director or officer of the Company adopted, terminated or modified a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement, as each term is defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K.

Exhibits filed herein are designated by an asterisk (). All exhibits not so designated are incorporated by reference to a prior filing, as indicated. Items constituting management contracts or compensatory plans or arrangements are designated by a double asterisk (). The Company agrees to furnish upon request to the commission a copy of any omitted schedules or exhibits upon request on all items designated by a triple asterisk ().