Duke Energy Corporation: Toronto & Chicago NDR

Research evidence excerpt

Duke Energy Corporation: Toronto & Chicago NDR

Barclays | Duke Energy Corporation

builds could cascade through the broader pipelines in the industry. As a result, DUK has

implemented centralized oversight with tight milestone tracking to ensure projects are

delivered on time and on budget.

M&A and the NEE/D Read-Through: Given the announced NEE – D stock-for-stock deal is within

DUK's current operating footprint, mgmt noted that having a high quality utility in their

jurisdictions with a track record for delivering efficiencies to customers will internalize

competition to perform for the states customers. This is a good thing that DUK sees longer term.

In regards to if M&A makes sense for DUK, commentary noted DUK is already at a size where

they would see limited benefits from size and scale across the portfolio. Mgmt did acknowledge

M&A could make sense for smaller companies who are less capitalized with larger organic

growth opportunities in front of them. We don't see DUK executing any M&A from an acquirer

standpoint and expect mgmt to re-evaluate its portfolio as it always does on a consistent

basis; Nothing is near term in our view.

Nuclear Does Not Seem Near Term. On nuclear, management maintained a cautious and

disciplined stance, noting clearly that the company does not currently have an active project

and views nuclear development as a longer-dated option rather than near-term. While DUK

continues to advance site permitting and engineering work to preserve optionality, the central

issue remains risk allocation, with management emphasizing that neither customers nor

shareholders can absorb open-ended cost overrun risk. A viable path forward likely requires a

shared-risk framework across utilities, EPC providers, and offtakers, alongside more robust