By Will Feuer


Duke Energy Corp. apologized to customers and regulators in North Carolina and South Carolina for disruption caused by rotating power outages on Christmas Eve that the company said it placed to protect the power grid.

The event marked the first time that Duke Energy has implemented rotating outages, which the electric and gas company characterized as a preventive measure to avoid potentially larger and longer outages across its systems. About 500,000 customers, or 15%, were affected, the company said.

"We are sorry for what our customers experienced," said Julie Janson, chief executive of Duke Energy Carolinas. "We regret not being able to provide customers as much advance notice as we would have liked, and acknowledge that the outages themselves lasted far longer than we first expected."

In a presentation before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Duke Energy executives said that rapidly plunging temperatures, greater-than-expected demand for electricity, diminished generation capacity and losses in purchased power spurred the company to initiate the outages.


Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-03-23 1036ET