North Carolina Regulators Reject Duke Energy Gas Power Plant

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that both production and consumption of natural gas in the United States will reach record levels in the coming years. Dry gas output is projected to climb from a 2025 record of 107.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) to 111.7 bcfd in 2026 and 115.9 bcfd in 2027. Domestic consumption is also expected to rise from a 2025 record of 91.9 bcfd to 92.2 bcfd in 2026 and 94.3 bcfd in 2027, while average U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports are seen increasing from 15.1 bcfd in 2025 to 17.4 bcfd in 2026 and 18.6 bcfd in 2027.

Analysts and monitors link much of the new gas infrastructure buildup to rapid data centre construction in the United States. A Global Energy Monitor report says U.S. gas-fired capacity under development has surged: capacity at any stage of development rose from 252 gigawatts to 378 GW since January, a one-third share of the global total, and under-construction projects increased 76% in the first half of the year. If all projects proceed, GEM estimates the U.S. gas fleet would expand by roughly two-thirds at an estimated capital cost exceeding $647 billion.

GEM and others highlight that roughly half of the new capacity is tied directly to powering data centres, including AI facilities, with many operators choosing gas over renewables. That shift has prompted concerns about higher carbon emissions over the next decade, a technology backlog for the most efficient gas turbines that has pushed some buyers toward smaller, less efficient units, and growing local activism pressing for stricter regulation of data centre impacts. The International Energy Agency has also said U.S. spending on gas- and coal-fired plants is expected to outpace Chinas for the first time in decades.

Despite national-scale expansion plans, local and state-level authorities are exercising limits. In September the Republican-controlled North Carolina Utilities Commission rejected Duke Energys proposal for a $500 million, 250-megawatt natural gas plant intended to serve a 21-building Amazon complex near Charlotte. Commissioners said Duke had not shown adequate consumer protections from construction cost pass-throughs in line with the White Housebacked Ratepayer Protection Pledge, and indicated that any reapplication would need to include cost-recovery mechanisms that comply with that voluntary agreement. The decision reflects growing consumer cost concerns tied to data centre energy demand and shows regulatory pushback amid broader national efforts to expand gas production and exports.