Duke Energy reports nearly $1 billion in North Carolina supplier spending for 2025, projects $5 billion over five years
AI-madeDuke Energy spent nearly $1 billion with North Carolina-based suppliers in 2025—and the Charlotte-based utility projects that figure could climb to close to $5 billion over the next five years.
The announcement came alongside a broader disclosure of the company’s domestic sourcing strategy, which channels more than 97% of its $17.2 billion in annual spending to U.S.-based suppliers.
Duke Energy announces nearly $1 billion in North Carolina supplier spending for 2025
For a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, that kind of in-state commitment is worth paying attention to. Duke Energy’s nearly $1 billion in North Carolina supplier spending for 2025 sits inside a larger domestic sourcing strategy that directs more than 97% of its $17.2 billion in annual spending to U.S.-based companies.
Here’s where things stand: Duke Energy spent nearly $1 billion with North Carolina suppliers in 2025 and projects close to $5 billion over the next five years.
The five-year projection sharpens the picture considerably. If spending holds its current trajectory, North Carolina suppliers could collectively pull in close to $5 billion over that period — a sustained pipeline that local manufacturers and service providers can actually plan around, not just a one-year headline.
Why Duke Energy prioritizes domestic and in-state suppliers
Duke Energy’s domestic-first approach isn’t purely about economic preference. The company points to supply chain risk reduction as a core driver — a lesson the energy sector learned during pandemic-era disruptions, when long international supply chains proved fragile. Sourcing domestically shortens lead times and eliminates single points of failure for critical grid equipment.
Rising energy demand is also pushing procurement volumes higher. North Carolina and Duke Energy’s other service territories are seeing real load growth—driven by population expansion, data centers, and electrification trends—which means more grid investment, more equipment to procure, and more supplier relationships to manage.
Working with in-state suppliers cuts logistical complexity. It also keeps more of the economic benefit local, something that matters both to the communities Duke Energy serves and to the company’s broader role as a regional anchor.
Key North Carolina supplier partnerships: GE Vernova and Siemens Energy
Two partnerships stand out in Duke Energy’s announcement. GE Vernova, based in Goldsboro, N.C., supplies transformers and electrification equipment to the utility. Troy Kabrich, the Goldsboro site director for GE Vernova, noted that the company takes seriously its role in supporting the communities where its employees live and work.
Siemens Energy operates in Charlotte, supplying gas turbines to Duke Energy with a presence in North Carolina spanning decades. Matt Neal, Siemens Energy’s president of North America, pointed to the partnership as part of meeting what he described as “unprecedented growth in energy” demand nationally. Both companies represent the kind of large-scale industrial suppliers that grid modernization actually depends on — transformers and gas turbines aren’t off-the-shelf items. They require specialized manufacturing, long lead times, and close coordination between buyer and supplier, none of which works well when your source is on the other side of the world.
Effects on local economies, jobs, and grid reliability
The ripple effects of this level of spending go well beyond the direct supplier contracts. When Duke Energy works with a North Carolina manufacturer, that company hires workers, buys materials from other local businesses, and generates tax revenue that funds public services. Gary Salamido, president and CEO of the N.C. Chamber of Commerce, said investments like these strengthen communities and reinforce the supply chains that power North Carolina’s growth.
For Duke Energy’s 8.7 million electric customers, there’s a practical dimension too. Securing equipment domestically helps ensure grid upgrades happen on schedule and that replacement parts are available when outages hit. Reliability isn’t just an operational metric — it’s a direct promise to customers.
Katie Aittola, Duke Energy’s senior vice president of supply chain, real estate, and chief procurement officer, framed the spending as reinvesting customer dollars back into the communities the utility serves. That positions supplier spending not as a cost to minimize but as a value-creation loop.
Background: Duke Energy’s scale, service territory, and energy transition goals
Duke Energy is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. Its electric utilities serve customers across six states — North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky — with a combined generation capacity of 55,700 megawatts and a workforce of roughly 26,400 people.
The company is also mid-stride in a long-term energy transition. Its stated goals include net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. Getting there means investing across natural gas, nuclear, renewables, and energy storage—a broad build-out rather than a single bet on any one technology.
Domestic supplier investment fits directly into that work. Grid upgrades, new generation capacity, and storage infrastructure all require enormous volumes of equipment, and sourcing from U.S.-based suppliers — especially those already inside Duke Energy’s service territory — cuts logistical complexity while keeping more of the economic benefit close to home.
Here’s where things stand: Duke Energy spent nearly $1 billion with North Carolina suppliers in 2025 and projects close to $5 billion over the next five years. More than 97% of its $17.2 billion in annual sourcing goes to domestic companies. Key in-state partners include GE Vernova in Goldsboro and Siemens Energy in Charlotte. The strategy is built to support grid reliability, reduce supply chain risk, and sustain American manufacturing jobs as the company works through a multi-decade energy transition.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
