A version of this article first appeared in WFAE’s Climate Newsletter. Sign up here to receive weekly climate news straight to your inbox.
A new report found that the American Southeast is more focused on generating new power than using energy more efficiently. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy compared energy savings across utilities and found that most Southeastern utilities are performing well below the national average in helping customers use less electricity.
The region is expecting to see energy demand grow 2-4% annually as data centers flock to cheap wholesale power. This week, Duke Energy announced the most ambitious capital spending plan of any regulated utility in the country to meet the power demands of these facilities.
While the utility leads the Southeast in energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses, its Carolina companies hover at or below the national average. Research director Maggie Shober contributed to the report and says Southeastern utilities, in general, are missing out on programs that can save customers a lot on their monthly bills.
“If we can offset some of the load growth by reducing energy waste, that's what energy efficiency is, then we can all save moving forward,” Shober said.
The report also found Southeastern utilities are doing very little to improve energy efficiency among industrial customers, such as large data centers. Most programs focus on energy savings for residential and commercial customers.
‘The cleanest electron is the one you never use’
SACE Executive Director Stephen Smith criticized the Trump administration’s denial of global warming and slashing of clean energy incentives in light of recent climate-related disasters in the Southeast, such as hurricanes, heatwaves and coastal flooding.
“This request for us to ignore our own experience and to deny the scientific physics of climate change is a very, very destructive path that we are on,” Smith said. “The climate crisis is real.”
Smith said that home efficiency works as a climate solution on two levels. When energy users consume electricity more efficiently, they contribute less to global warming.
“The cleanest, most efficient electron is the one you never use,” Smith said.
At the same time, many actions that improve a home’s energy efficiency, such as installing new windows, improving insulation or upgrading a heat pump, also make dwellings safer and more climate resilient.
North Carolina leads on energy efficiency in the region
The American South generates nearly half of all electricity produced in the United States, yet it sees the fewest energy savings, with Southeastern states falling even farther behind. The Southeast is home to some utility giants, such as Duke Energy, Dominion, Southern Power and Florida Power & Light, some of which also operate outside the region. North Carolina and South Carolina lead in the Southeast, with North Carolina just above the national average of 0.48%.
Regulatory action by state lawmakers and the utility commission drove that progress in North Carolina, the report concludes.
“Duke is clearly capable of delivering significant energy efficiency savings, but what you're seeing in their Florida subsidiary is very little is going on,” said Eddy Moore, SACE’s decarbonization director.
Similarly, Dominion Energy South Carolina performed worse than both Duke Energy’s Carolina subsidiaries and two other Southeastern utilities, Tampa Electric and Georgia Power.
This is an arena where individual homeowners and businesses can make a difference.
North Carolina is one of only two Southeastern states to get its Home Efficiency Rebate program up and running after the U.S. Department of Energy paused funding in 2025 to review state plans. Energy Saver NC supports residents who want to electrify their homes and use that electricity more efficiently, offering up to $16,000 toward new appliances, better insulation, or other purchases that help a home consume electricity more efficiently.
Duke Energy continues to lead the Southeast on energy efficiency programs. This includes project financing programs like Improve and Save or minor home upgrades, such as the Neighborhood Energy Saver Program. Both programs responded to legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. For example, Senate Bill 3 gave the utility commission a framework to create programs that reduced energy demand to meet state energy efficiency standards, which, in turn, led to the creation of the Neighborhood Energy Saver Program.
However, the utility has fallen behind on its own pre-pandemic progress. Its Carolina subsidiaries have hovered around the major utility average of 0.7% annual energy savings, but the report noted that “they have not yet returned to their previous peaks in 2017-2019 that either neared or exceeded 1.0% savings.”
“Much of Duke’s residential energy efficiency program savings fade within a year because they come from targeted customer education rather than home performance improvements such as insulation and duct-sealing,” the report’s authors conclude.
Help your home use less energy and save money on your monthly bills:
- Energy Funds For All put together a toolkit to connect renters, homeowners, businesses and basically anyone who uses energy to funding for projects that help reduce energy bills, improve indoor air quality and lower emissions.
- Electrify the Triad is a new program that aims to connect homeowners to local contractors who can weatherize and electrify their homes. This program launches on February 28 in North Carolina’s Triad region.
- Duke Energy offers programs and incentives to help you reduce your monthly energy consumption and power bill.
