In April 2017, Duke Energy proposed a $13 billion, 10-year plan to modernize North Carolina’s electric system. Dubbed the Power/Forward Carolinas initiative, Duke had proposed grid hardening, resilience, advanced metering infrastructure, and smart grid investments. However, after opposition from environmental groups, the plan was scaled down to $2.5 billion over a three-year period. Although settlement was filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) on June 1, 2018, on June 22, 2018, the NCUC rejected the Power/Forward Carolinas initiative outright without taking into consideration the settlement agreement.
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