The company began in 1900 as the Catawba Power Company, financed by Walker Gill Wylie and his brother for the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Catawba River in South Carolina. When Wylie sought further funding, he convinced James B. Duke and James Blaney to invest in the Southern Power Company, founded in 1905. In 1917, James Blaney founded the Wateree Power Company, a holding company for utilities owned by Duke and Blaney, which was renamed Duke Power in 1924.
By 1927, most subsidiary companies, including Southern Power Company and Catawba Power Company, were merged into Duke Power. Southern Public Utilities, wholly owned by Duke Power, continued to operate as a separate entity for retail power marketing and also operated transit systems, later converted from streetcars to buses. In 1988, Duke purchased Nantahala Power & Light Co., which served southwestern North Carolina, from Alcoa, operating it as a separate division before integrating it as Duke Energy Carolinas.
In 1997, Duke Power merged with PanEnergy, a natural gas company, to form Duke Energy. The company continued to operate nuclear power plants, coal-fired plants, and hydroelectric facilities, alongside natural-gas turbines for peak demand and pumped hydro storage. In 2005, Duke Energy announced the purchase of Cinergy Corporation, completed in April 2006, expanding its customer base into the Midwestern United States. On July 3, 2012, Duke Energy merged with Progress Energy Inc., retaining the Duke Energy name and Charlotte headquarters.
In 1973, Duke Power engaged in a thirteen-month contract dispute with workers at the Brookside coal mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, over medical benefits and union representation. The strike culminated in the shooting death of miner Lawrence D. Jones by a foreman, leading to an agreement recognizing the United Mine Workers of America local, rehiring striking workers, and dropping related charges. In December 2022, Duke Energy implemented rolling blackouts for the first time in its history during a major winter storm, due to unprecedented energy demand and software failures, prompting a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission investigation.
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp. that modifications to Duke’s coal-burning power plants required Clean Air Act permits, as they increased emissions. In February 2014, a coal-ash spill from the Dan River led to a grand jury investigation and Duke Energy’s guilty plea to nine charges of criminal negligence, resulting in $102 million in fines and an order to close its 32 ash ponds in North Carolina by 2029. In 2016, the Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded Duke Energy from its fund, citing the risk of severe environmental damage.
In 2017, Duke Energy announced plans to launch three new solar farms in Kentucky, adding to existing facilities like the Davidson County Solar Farm and the Hamilton Solar Power Plant. The company also began commercial operations of several farms in Texas in 2020. Duke Energy also invested in wind farms, including the Los Vientos Wind Farm and Shirley Wind. In 2018, Duke Energy announced plans to install 530 electric car charging stations around Florida, with 10% in low-income communities.
Duke Energy was named one of Business Insider’s 50 Best Employers in America. In 2002, the company received the Ig Nobel Prize in Economics for adapting mathematical concepts of imaginary numbers for use in the business world.