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Duke Energy restores power to 131,000 following Fern, offers tips as colder weather continues to drive high energy use

prnewswire.com
DUK Duke Energy is actively restoring power after a storm and providing energy-saving tips. While this shows operational capability, the ongoing high energy use and colder weather suggest a neutral outlook, balancing restoration efforts with potential customer cost increases.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy crews are repairing damaged equipment and restoring service to customers across the Carolinas after Winter Storm Fern – and the company is offering simple ways for those with power to manage energy use as cold weather lingers.

Power restoration

Duke Energy restored power to more than 131,000 Carolinas customers as of 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26.

Nearly 22,000 customers are without power as of 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26.

The following outage figures are as of 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 26. Refer to the Duke Energy Outage Map for up-to-date figures broken out by county.

OUTAGES RESTORED

CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER

NORTH CAROLINA

93,609

10,554

SOUTH CAROLINA

37,450

11,422

TOTAL

131,059

21,976

Duke Energy serves about 4.7 million electric customers in the Carolinas – about 3.8 million in North Carolina and nearly 860,000 in South Carolina.

Rick Canavan, Duke Energy storm director:

Energy efficiency tips

As Duke Energy crews restore service across the Carolinas, customers with power will likely use more energy this week as colder‑than‑normal temperatures push heating systems to run longer, which can lead to higher bills.

A few small changes can help reduce the impact of cold weather for customers – without affecting comfort:

More energy efficiency tips: duke-energy.com/WinterEnergySavings.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. The company's electric utilities serve 8.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,100 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.

Duke Energy is executing an ambitious energy transition, keeping customer reliability and value at the forefront as it builds a smarter energy future. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including natural gas, nuclear, renewables and energy storage.

More information is available at  duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy