Duke Energy is a regulated electric and natural gas utility serving customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, generating and delivering power under rates set by state utility regulators rather than competitive market pricing. As a regulated utility, its allowed profit is tied to a rate of return approved by regulators on the capital it invests in power plants, transmission lines and grid infrastructure, which gives it steady, predictable earnings in exchange for accepting limits on how much it can charge customers. Duke has been investing heavily in grid modernization and a shift away from coal-fired generation toward natural gas and renewable energy sources, spending that regulators generally allow the company to earn a return on once approved. Rising electricity demand from data centers and industrial customers in its service territories has added a new source of growth on top of its traditionally slow, population-driven demand growth.