Duke Energy Capital Spending May Soar with Coal-Ash Cleanup

SUGAR LAND--April 23, 2019--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Earlier this year, Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) told investors it planned to invest $37 billion in electric and gas capital projects over the next five years. That number might go higher, driven by coal-ash cleanup costs. Fully one-third of the $37 billion in planned outlays are slated to go to Duke's regulated electric-distribution utilities, mainly in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Duke's regulated electric-generation business is scheduled to receive about $7.5 billion over the 2019-2023 period. Within this article: Details on how Duke plans to cover its mounting coal-ash cleanup costs, which could pummel the company's bottom line.