MEETING THE DEMAND OF

OUR GENERATION

DEAR SHAREHOLDER:

We are entering an inflection point in Duke Energy’s history. The needs of

our customers, communities and the broader economy are changing at a

pace the utility industry has never experienced – driven by advanced

manufacturing, population growth and the rapid expansion of

technologies.

The strong foundation we’ve built over decades is grounded in operational

excellence, financial strength and a deep commitment to customer

value – all of which position us for success. We are prepared to meet this

moment of dynamic growth with innovation, reliability and speed.

Even as demand accelerates, we remain unwavering in our commitment to

deliver reliable energy at the best value. We know that cost of living

matters more than ever. That’s why every investment we make is tied

directly to value for customers – continuously improving reliability,

enhancing grid resiliency, and using every available tool to keep rates

below the national average. We are executing on the largest regulated

capital plan in our sector, working with stakeholders on constructive

regulatory outcomes, advocating for supportive energy policy, and

delivering sustainable long-term value.

2025 was a year defined by execution. We delivered for stakeholders while

preparing our system for the growth ahead. Our teams managed costs

effectively, leveraged federal incentives and deployed innovative financing

tools to reduce pressure on customer bills. At the same time, we made

strategic progress modernizing our fleet and investing in infrastructure

that will power economic development across our states for decades.

We are entering 2026 with extraordinary momentum and an unmatched

opportunity: to build the energy backbone of a modern American

economy while ensuring it remains reliable and affordable for everyone we

serve.

SEIZING GROWTH

Economic Development

Duke Energy powers a modern economy – one

that is driven by manufacturing, innovation,

expanded energy use, and technologies such as

artificial intelligence (AI). Our mission is to serve

this growth and deliver value for our stakeholders.

All of the work underway today enables us to

continue to serve our customers reliably and

affordably into the future while simultaneously

delivering meaningful community benefits.

An Ernst & Young study estimates our 10-year

capital plan will equate to over $370 billion in

economic output, including approximately

$130 billion in labor income, and will contribute

more than $200 billion to gross domestic product.

These investments will also support nearly

170,000 jobs annually.

In 2025, we helped secure 87 economic

development projects, representing over $30 billion

in new capital investment and approximately

29,000 new jobs within our service territories.

These projects include major facilities, such as

Amazon’s planned $10 billion investment to launch

a new high-tech cloud computing and AI

innovation campus in Richmond County, North

Carolina, one of the largest investments in the

state’s history. Supporting the increased energy

demand expected from projects like these is an

immense opportunity for our company and

reinforces our role in regional development and

growth.

Our economic development pipeline is advancing,

with approximately 4.5 gigawatts of data center

load secured under electric service agreements,

including Microsoft and Amazon. Large-load

infrastructure costs are not passed on to current

customers; instead, new growth will help lower

overall customer costs over time.

Our territories continue to attract new business,

with North Carolina named the Top State for

Business by CNBC for the third time in four years

and Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina

ranking among the top five states for population

growth.

EXECUTING OUR STRATEGY

As the demand for energy grows and shifts, Duke

Energy remains steadfast in its commitment to

provide reliable energy, upgrading both the grid

and our power generation assets while also keeping

costs as low as possible. To address the dynamic

external landscape, we are taking three core steps:

collaborating with stakeholders to champion

supportive energy policies, preparing and

transforming our infrastructure, and ensuring we

deliver lasting value to customers and shareholders

alike.

Collaborating with Stakeholders and

Advocating for Constructive Policies

We work closely with stakeholders to support

America’s economic growth, maintain transparency

and help ensure reliable energy at the lowest

possible cost.

Affordability has always been a priority at our

company and we continue to look for ways to

reduce costs. As a regulated utility, our rates are

overseen by state commissions, helping ensure

transparency and keeping costs as low as possible

for customers.

In 2025, we sought approval to combine Duke

Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress, a

move expected to save customers over $1 billion

by 2038 through streamlined operations. Over the

last 12 months, we worked with regulators and

other stakeholders to recover and securitize nearly

$3 billion of storm costs, using tools like the

North Carolina bonds projected to save customers

$422 million compared to traditional recovery

methods. And in Florida, full recovery of $1.1 billion

in storm costs is set to lower bills by about $33

a month beginning in March.

We filed updated Carolinas Resource Plans in

North Carolina and South Carolina, expanding

upon the previous plans and providing an updated

path to continue reliably meeting the needs of our

customers while minimizing costs. The plan

maintains an all-of-the-above strategy and limits

annual bill increases to 2.1% – below inflation and

less than prior projections.

We had an active year of rate cases, which

resulted in important cost recovery, regulatory

certainty, and financial stability to invest in system

innovation and customer service, while moderating

bill impacts and supporting long-term reliability

for our customers.

We reached comprehensive settlements in both of

our South Carolina rate cases last year, which

were fully approved by the Public Service

Commission of South Carolina in December. Duke

Energy Indiana also received a constructive

order from the Indiana Utility Regulatory

Commission in 2025. Duke Energy Kentucky

executed both electric and natural gas base rate

cases in 2025 to support investments in

infrastructure, reliability and customer programs.

In North Carolina, we’re progressing our requests

for new multiyear rate plans, which would take

effect January 1, 2027. Constructive energy

legislation was also passed in North Carolina,

South Carolina and Ohio during 2025.

In October, we filed for certificates of environmental

compatibility and public convenience and

necessity for the Anderson County combined

cycle located in South Carolina, and we anticipate

approval by late spring 2026. In North Carolina,

we have secured all major permit approvals, gas

supply, long-lead equipment and workforce

contracts for our Person County combined-

cycle units, and construction has commenced at

the site. We also recently filed for North Carolina

approvals for the Anderson County combined-

cycle and Smith combustion turbine projects. We

expect approvals from North Carolina on both of

these projects in mid-2026.

In Indiana, we appreciate the commission’s

approval of our Certificate of Public Convenience

and Necessity for the Cayuga combined-cycle

gas units, a critical project to meet the state’s

growing power needs. The order approved two

settlements reached in the case, as well as

semiannual Construction Work in Progress

recovery through a rider. This recovery mechanism

will support the balance sheet through the

construction cycle and reduce overall costs to

customers.

Federally, nuclear production tax credits were

preserved, benefiting our large nuclear fleet in the

Carolinas and saving $600 million for customers

last year. We appreciate the engagement from

Congress, the Trump administration and other

stakeholders around our shared objectives of

supporting nuclear energy and minimizing impacts

to lowering customer bills.

Transforming and Readying the System

We’re at a pivotal point in our industry’s

history – we’re building more generation and grid

infrastructure faster than we ever have before, all

while we continue to transform the largest

transmission and distribution system in the

country with targeted investments to improve the

reliability and resiliency of our system.

To meet customer demand and support economic

growth, we are adding about 14 gigawatts of

incremental generation over the next five years

while also optimizing our current resources.

Generation Investments

We also advanced our all-of-the-above generation

strategy, adding capacity to our system across a

diverse mix of resources, including a 100-megawatt

battery storage system in North Carolina, the

largest on our system to date. After obtaining

permitting approvals, we also broke ground on 5

gigawatts of new natural gas generation in the

Carolinas and Indiana and have another 2.5

gigawatts of natural gas generation capacity

pending approvals from our regulators. We’ve

secured critical contracts for equipment and labor

to support these projects and are pursuing

power uprates (~250 MW) and 20-year life

extensions at our nuclear units in the Carolinas.

With nearly 4 gigawatts of gas generation built

over the last decade, we are well prepared to

execute the work ahead. We will also continue to

add battery and solar projects steadily, aiming for

approximately 4.5 gigawatts of battery additions

through 2031.

Grid Modernization

Our reliability is improving faster than that of

compatible utilities, due to the investments we

have been making. Since inception, our grid

improvements have prevented more than

2.2 billion outage minutes for our customers,

equivalent to two years of customer minutes.

Nearly 75% of Duke Energy’s 6.4 million customers

now benefit from self-healing technology on

main power distribution lines – more than twice as

many as three years ago.

Nuclear and Emerging Technologies

As the operator of the largest regulated nuclear

fleet in the U.S., we see significant potential for

nuclear in meeting current and future energy

demands.

In March 2025, the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission approved the Subsequent License

Renewal (SLR) for all three Oconee Nuclear

Station units, allowing operation through 2053 for

Units 1 and 2 and 2054 for Unit 3. Oconee is

Duke Energy’s first plant authorized to operate for

a total of 80 years. We also submitted the SLR

application for Robinson Nuclear Plant in

April 2025 and began preparing one for Brunswick

Nuclear Plant.

With North Carolina Utilities Commission approval,

we’re also advancing early nuclear development

activities, including filing an early site permit for

our Belews Creek location in December of 2025.

Our disciplined approach prioritizes flexibility,

risk reduction and technology maturation before

committing to new projects.

Duke Energy Florida (DEF) unveiled its DeBary

Hydrogen Production Storage System in Volusia

County, the first demonstration project in the

United States capable of using an end-to-end

system to produce, store and combust up to 100%

green hydrogen.

Investing in our existing fleet, advancing new

generation, and evaluating emerging technologies

are critical to ensure we can support our growing

communities.

Creating Sustainable Value for Customers

and Shareholders

As a regulated utility, we deliver reliable energy at

the lowest possible cost, maintaining rates

below the national average.

When storms or severe weather threatens reliable

service, our experienced local crews stand ready

to restore power – from summer thunderstorms to

snow and ice storms to record-setting hurricanes

like Helene. Thousands of Duke Energy crews work

around the clock to safely get the lights back on

and rebuild critical infrastructure.

In 2025, Duke Energy provided roughly

$160 million in bill assistance to over 208,000

households through programs such as Share the

Light Fund® and LIHEAP. We also help customers

manage costs through energy-saving programs

that have saved more than $1 billion since 2019.

In the Carolinas, customers see annual savings

150% above the national average.

BUILDING ON A STRONG

FOUNDATION

Operational Excellence and Safety

Safety and operational excellence isn’t a

slogan – it’s a daily commitment – guiding us to

deliver for our customers and communities,

especially under challenging conditions. At its

core, operational excellence is what keeps us

striving to be our best.

Safety remains our top priority as evidenced by

our industry-leading safety record for over a

decade. We expect to be the top company for

safety total incident case rate compared to peer

utilities for the 11th consecutive year.

Whether responding to winter storms, restoring

infrastructure after hurricanes, pushing innovation

across our grid and generation assets to bring

speed to power, or keeping costs as low as possible

for customers while ensuring reliability and

resiliency, our operations teams continue to set

the standard for what excellence looks like in our

industry.

In 2025, Duke Energy’s nuclear plants achieved a

record 96.9% capacity factor, marking 27

consecutive years above 90%. We reaffirmed our

commitment to advanced nuclear development

activities as part of our participation in a U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) cost-share project, a

$400 million grant to the Tennessee Valley

Authority (TVA) to continue to accelerate

deployment of GE Vernova Hitachi’s (GVH) BWRX-

300 small modular reactor (SMR) technology.

By supporting standard technology designs and

collaborating with industry partners to accelerate

clean energy solutions, we’re aligned with our

long-term strategy to deliver reliable, increasingly

clean energy while supporting energy security and

delivering customer value.

Our Regulated and Renewable Energy fleet

performed well. The fleet continued its measured

capacity expansion at several of our natural

gas units in the Carolinas and Florida through

heat rate and other efficiency improvements. Those

upgrades will continue through 2030 to support

the growth we are seeing across our jurisdictions.

Our Power Grid Operations team continues to

execute our capital investment plans to improve

reliability and provide value to our customers.

In addition, our Gas Operations organization

continues to provide value and extraordinary

customer service to our customers, investing for

growth in the system but also to make the system

safer and more reliable.

Community Engagement and Foundation

Support

In 2025, the Duke Energy Foundation donated

nearly $30 million to over 7,000 charities and

nonprofits across six states, supporting vibrant

economies, local resiliency, and community

opportunity such as education and energy bill

assistance. Employees contributed more than

$6 million and 116,000 volunteer hours, with

record participation in the Power of Giving

campaign. At the Harvest Hustle event, employees

helped set a Guinness World Record for

assembling disaster preparedness kits to support

resiliency in local communities.

We are proud to be recognized for our commitment

to excellence and service across multiple

dimensions. This year, we received the Edison

Electric Institute (EEI) Outstanding Customer

Engagement Award, and DEF received the EEI

Emergency Response Award for outstanding

recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. For

the 10th year, our safety performance was ahead

of our peers in the industry, according to EEI’s

metrics.

Fortune ranked Duke Energy No. 3 among electric

and gas utilities on the magazine’s World’s Most

Admired Companies list for 2026 – up from No. 4

last year and marking the company’s ninth

consecutive year on the list.

Site Selection magazine named the company a

Top Utility for the 21st consecutive year,

recognizing strong economic development and

job creation.

These achievements reflect the dedication of our

employees and our unwavering focus on delivering

value to our customers, communities and

stakeholders.

Sustained Financial Performance

In February, we announced 2025 earnings per

share (EPS) of $6.31 – representing 7% growth

over 2024 and above the midpoint of our guidance

range for the year. I’m proud to say we executed

on all fronts. The significant improvement over

2024 reflects timely storm recovery and improving

operating cash flows from continued regulatory

execution. Our performance reflects the strength

of our regulated utilities, our teammates’

unwavering focus on operational excellence, and

our commitment to generating sustainable

shareholder and customer value. We also

announced two strategic transactions at premium

valuations that position the company for growth.

Brookfield’s minority interest investment in Duke

Energy Florida and the sale of our Piedmont

Tennessee business to Spire will further strengthen

our credit profile and satisfy our 2026 equity

needs.

Earlier this year, we announced that Duke Energy

has paid a cash dividend on its common stock for

100 consecutive years. We remain laser focused

on delivering value for our shareholders,

stakeholders and customers.

Looking ahead, we’ve introduced 2026 adjusted

EPS guidance of $6.55 to $6.80. We’re also

extending our 5% to 7% long-term EPS growth

rate through 2030, off the original 2025 guidance

midpoint. I am more confident than ever in our

ability to deliver in the top half of the EPS growth

rate range beginning in 2028 as load growth

accelerates.

Our earnings profile is underpinned by a

$16 billion increase in our five-year capital plan to

$103 billion, the largest regulated capital plan in

our sector, which will drive 9.6% earnings base

growth. These investments strengthen the system,

increase capacity to serve our growing

communities and deliver the reliability our

customers count on.

Nearly 60% of our capital investments add

significant new generation over the next five years

while nearly 40% of our investments continue

our work to expand and modernize our grid.

As the investment needs of our utilities accelerate,

I want to emphasize that the cost of energy has

always been and will remain a key focus for Duke

Energy. We continue to find new ways to deliver

affordable and reliable energy for our customers,

keeping our rates below the national average and

rate changes below the pace of inflation.

CONTINUED MOMENTUM

We enter 2026 with incredible momentum to continue delivering

sustained value for our customers and our investors. This year will be

defined by continued execution in the following core areas: continuing to

improve the reliability and resiliency of our existing fleet, providing value

for our customers and communities, advancing construction on new

generation to serve our growing jurisdictions, converting our economic

development pipeline into firm projects, and building on our

demonstrated track record of constructive regulatory outcomes.

With a clear strategy, a strong foundation and over 26,000 exceptional

teammates, we are prepared to meet rising demand and economic

development while continuing to deliver reliable energy at the lowest

possible cost and sustainable value. Thank you for your continued

confidence in Duke Energy as we power the growth of tomorrow – safely,

responsibly, and reliably – together.

Harry K. Sideris

President and CEO