Taste the difference of truly

>> ALL RIGHT, WELCOME BACK TO

POWER LUNCH. AMID THE GROWING

BACKLASH BY SOME OVER AI AND

DATA CENTERS, MAJOR UTILITIES

ARE SIGNING ON TO A PLEDGE TO

KEEP POWER BILLS AS AFFORDABLE

AS POSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE. DUKE

ENERGY, ONE OF THE BIGGEST

PLAYERS IN THE UNITED STATES

AND ITS CEO, SAYS THE DATA

CENTER BOOM COULD DELIVER

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN BENEFIT

FOR CUSTOMERS. JOINING US NOW

FOR A POWER LUNCH EXCLUSIVE IS

DUKE ENERGY PRESIDENT AND CEO

HARRY SEDARIS. HARRY, IT'S GOOD

TO HAVE YOU BACK ON THIS. IT'S

A CRITICAL ISSUE. IT'S GROWING

AROUND THE COUNTRY. WHEN YOU

LISTEN TO A LOT OF THE

POLITICAL TALK, WE GET IT ON

BOTH SIDES. TO BE FAIR, WHAT

ARE SOME OF THE 1 OR 2 THINGS

YOU HEAR THE MOST THAT ARE

MISLEADING OR SIMPLY NOT TRUE

OR CONFUSING TO THE CUSTOMER

AND THE PUBLIC?

>> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. IT'S A TOP

OF MIND ISSUE, AND IT'S GREAT

TO BE WITH YOU AGAIN, BRIAN, TO

TALK ABOUT THIS. I HAD THE

PLEASURE OF GOING TO THE WHITE

HOUSE EVENT YESTERDAY WHERE

PRESIDENT TRUMP, AND WE REALLY

ARE APPRECIATIVE OF PRESIDENT

TRUMP AND SECRETARY RYAN AND

THE REST OF THE ADMINISTRATION

FOR BRINGING EVERYBODY TOGETHER

TO TO TACKLE THIS CRITICAL

ISSUE. DATA CENTERS ARE

IMPORTANT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY.

WE WANT TO WIN THE AI RACE, BUT

WE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR

CUSTOMERS FROM THE EXPENSES

THAT IT TAKES TO SERVE THESE

CUSTOMERS. AND THIS PLEDGE,

ALONG WITH THE WORK THAT DUKE

ENERGY AND OTHERS HAVE BEEN

DOING FOR OVER A YEAR AND A

HALF NOW, DOES THAT MAKING SURE

THAT THEY PAY FOR THE

INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S GOING TO

SERVE THEM, MAKING SURE THAT

OVER TIME, IT'S ACTUALLY GOING

TO CUT THE COST TO THE CUSTOMER

BY BY SPREADING THE REVENUE

THAT THEY'RE GOING TO PRODUCE

OVER THE FIXED COSTS OF OUR

SYSTEM. IN NORTH CAROLINA,

WE'RE ESTIMATING $3.6 BILLION

OF SAVINGS OVER THE DATA CENTER

CONTRACTS THAT WE HAVE SIGNED

TO DATE OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS.

AND THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR

CUSTOMERS BECAUSE THEY'RE

STRUGGLING WITH INFLATION, WITH

PRICES ON HOUSING, MEDICINE,

HEALTH CARE, GASOLINE, SO DOING

EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN TO KEEP

LOW CUSTOMERS COSTS AS LOW AS

POSSIBLE, SOMETHING THAT WE'VE

DONE FOR OVER 125 YEARS. AND WE

CONTINUE TO FIND WAYS TO DO

THAT.

>> DUKE ENERGY, FLORIDA

LOWERING RESIDENTIAL BILLS THAT

THAT'S GOING TO TAKE EFFECT, I

THINK THE NEXT QUARTER. YOU CAN

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON THE

ON THE EXACT TIMING, BUT THE

BILLS ARE GOING TO GO DOWN. AT

LEAST THE PER KILOWATT RATE IS

GOING TO GO DOWN. HARRIS. A LOT

OF PEOPLE, YOU UNDERSTAND, ARE

GOING TO BE SKEPTICAL OF THESE

CLAIMS. YOU'RE GOING TO SAY, NO

WAY. IT'S JUST UTILITIES SORT

OF TALKING THEIR BOOK, PUT IT

IN PRACTICE, HOW DOES IT WORK?

YOU KNOW, MICROSOFT OR AN

AMAZON OR WHOEVER IT MAY BE,

PAYS A GIANT CHUNK OF MONEY.

AND WHAT THAT GOES INTO THE

POOL, WHICH IS THEN SORT OF

SPREAD OUT AMONG THE

RESIDENTIAL BASE. HOW DOES IT

WORK IN PRACTICE?

>> YES. SO OUR, OUR CUSTOMER

PROTECTION PLEDGE THAT WE MADE

YESTERDAY, MAKE SURE IT FOCUSES

ON THREE THINGS PROTECTING

RELIABILITY FOR THE CUSTOMERS

SO THAT THE DATA CENTERS, WHEN

THEY SHOW UP, THAT THE SYSTEM

STAYS RELIABLE, THAT THEY'RE

PAYING FOR THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE.

SO THEIR RATE THAT THEY'RE

SIGNING UP FOR 15 YEARS IS

GOING TO PRODUCE REVENUE. AND

THAT REVENUE IS SPREAD OVER THE

FIXED COSTS OF THE SYSTEM,

WHICH LOWERS THE RATES TO THE

REST OF THE CUSTOMERS. AND IT

ALSO SPREADS THE COST OF STORM

RECOVERY. WHEN WE HAVE A STORM,

WHEN FUEL COSTS INCREASE. SO

THOSE ARE THE WAYS THAT THAT

BENEFITS THE BROADER BASE OF

CUSTOMERS. SO HAVING THAT

ADDITIONAL REVENUE SPREAD OVER

THAT FIXED COST IS HOW YOU DO

THAT. NOW THE MATH IS

COMPLICATED. WE'RE TRYING TO

SIMPLIFY THAT FOR FOR FOLKS

WITH THIS PLEDGE SO THAT THEY

CAN TRUST THAT WE'RE DOING

EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN AND THAT

THESE DATA CENTERS ARE PAYING

THEIR WAY AND PROVIDING THESE

BENEFITS FOR EVERYONE.

>> HARRY, I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS

FOR YOU. FIRST IS THAT NORTH

CAROLINA'S GOVERNOR HAS ASKED

YOU TO HAVE THIS COMMITMENT BE

LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE, LEGALLY

BINDING. HAVE YOU DONE THAT?

WILL YOU DO THAT?

>> YEAH. SO THE PLEDGE IS

VOLUNTARY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.

LIKE I SAID, WE'VE ISSUED OUR

OWN PLEDGE. WE ARE GOVERNED BY

THE COMMISSIONS, THE REGULATORY

COMMISSIONS, AND WE'RE DRIVEN

INTERNALLY. OUR 26,000

EMPLOYEES HAVE ALWAYS FOCUSED

ON DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN

TO MAKE SURE OUR CUSTOMERS ARE

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE LOWEST

COST, POWER AND AND MOST

RELIABLE POWER THAT WE CAN

PROVIDE. SO WE AGREE WITH THE

GOVERNOR AND THE ATTORNEY

GENERAL THAT WE MUST MAKE SURE

THAT WE PROTE