Dive Brief:

• Duke Energy's utilities operating in North Carolina appear to be returning greater profits than regulators allow, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
• Documents recently filed with state regulators report that Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress have been over-returning for three consecutive quarters.
• The North Carolina Utilities Commission says it is aware of the issue, and is keeping a close eye. Duke Energy said they do not expect any action to be required, as returns are expected to fall by the end of the year.

Dive Insight:

For the 12 months ended June 30, Duke Energy Carolinas showed a return on equity of 11.12% — but the utility is only authorized to return 10.2%. Duke Progress, for the same period, showed a return of 11.29% and is authorized to return 10.2%.

The company says it anticipates the returns should drop by the end of the year. A cold winter is partly to blame, as are accounting changes that deal with how nuclear service outages. Duke's acquisition of Progress Energy Corp. is also being considered as a possible factor, but the Journal reports it is too soon to tell if the returns are connected. The most significant factor is likely the outage accounting changes.

It is the first time since 2003 that either utility has significantly exceeded the return rates set by the North Carolina Utilities Commission.