Duke Energy acknowledges multiple generators failed, despite promise they were fully prepared for extreme cold

RALEIGH, N.C. (WRAL) - Duke Energy now admits several generating units were either offline or not responding during the rolling blackouts Christmas eve.

Last summer, Duke Energy claimed to be ready for extreme cold. Now, they’re saying multiple generators did not respond ahead of rolling blackouts that impacted half a million people over the weekend.

Duke Energy initially blamed colder-than-expected temps and higher-than-expected demand, but experts agree that would not be enough to cause the widespread “load-shedding” the utility implemented on Christmas Eve.

After the 2021 winter blackout in Texas that killed more than 200 people, regulators in North Carolina required utilities to report on their winter weather preparedness. Duke testified as recently as this summer that it was fully prepared for extreme cold, had not had generators fail to respond in the past three winters, and had a “robust” plan to alert consumers if rolling outages were ever needed.

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