Dive Brief:

• Duke Energy reported earnings of $609 million for Q2 2014, up 80% over earnings of $339 million for the same period last year. 
• Duke's regulated utilities drove the increase in earnings and posted adjusted earnings of $689 million for Q2 2014, up over $590 million for the same period last year.
• The regulated utilities' earnings increase was due to higher customer rates, warmer-than-usual weather that drove greater electricity consumption and a tax settlement.

Dive Insight:

Duke Energy's weather-normalized retail electricity sales grew 1.6% over the last 12 months. "We continue to be encouraged by broad trends in the economy such as higher median household income levels, low unemployment rates and new customer additions," Steve Young, chief financial officer for Duke Energy, said on an earnings call with analysts. 

Duke is negotiating power purchasing agreements for about 300 MW of regulated solar in North Carolina, according to CEO Lynn Good, and the utility is pleased with the outcome of collaborative solar legislation in South Carolina.  

Good also commented on the EPA's Clean Power Plan, which proposes a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. Duke has been "evaluating this complex rule," Good said, and intends "to remain actively engaged in the tool-making process."

The utility supports "reasonable decreases in greenhouse gas emissions over time, while balancing impacts to our customer, the economies of our service territories and the reliability that our customers count on," she added. Good wants the EPA to recognize the progress made before 2012, touting the company's $9 billion investment in new generation and $7 billion investment in emissions reduction technologies, which have enabled the utility to schedule the retirement of over half of its coal fleet and reduce CO2 emission by 20% since 2005.