“Duke just promised the federal government that it won’t shift the cost of data centers onto families,” said Jackson in the press release. “I am pleased to see that Duke Energy has signed on to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge,” added Stein. Duke Energy is the largest investor-owned electric utility in North Carolina, serving about 8.7 million electric customers and 1.6 million natural gas customers. Earlier this month, Duke Energy lowered its proposed rate increase for residential customers, which received pushback from Jackson and consumers. Omoyeni added that when Stein signed the state budget, it eliminated the sales and use tax exemption for data centers’ electricity use.