艾玛·海达尔（Emma Haidar）报道：杜克能源公司（Duke Energy Corp.）与全球几家最大的科技公司达成了一项协议，据称该协议将保护北卡罗来纳州的客户免受部分数据中心成本的影响。
Energy Corp. reached a deal with several of the world’s largest tech companies that it said would protect customers in North Carolina from some data center costs.
针对包括数据中心在内的大负载客户的电价表意味着，他们必须自行承担变电站和输电线路等基础设施建设的费用。无论实际使用多少电力，他们每个月还必须支付其预计用电量的至少 75%。这项与北卡罗来纳州公众员工局（North Carolina Public Staff，一个州立消费者机构）达成的和解协议最早由《新闻与观察家报》（The News & Observer）报道。
The tariff for large load customers including data centers means they would have to foot the bill for infrastructure needs such as substations and transmission lines. They would also have to pay at least 75% of their projected power needs each month, regardless of how much is actually used. The settlement with North Carolina Public Staff, a state consumer agency, was first reported by The News & Observer.
该公用事业公司表示，亚马逊公司（Amazon.com Inc.）、Meta平台公司（Meta Platforms Inc.）、微软公司（Microsoft Corp.）、谷歌有限责任公司（Google LLC）以及美国国防部已经接受了拟议的电价表。该计划需要得到北卡罗来纳州公用事业委员会（North Carolina Utilities Commission）的正式批准。
The utility said Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google LLC, and the US Defense Department had accepted the proposed tariff. The plan will need to be officially approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
杜克能源北卡罗来纳州总裁肯达尔·鲍曼（Kendal Bowman）在一份声明中表示：“很简单——数据中心将提前支付连接电网的所有费用。”
“It’s simple – data centers will pay upfront for all costs to connect to the grid,” Kendal Bowman, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president, said in a statement.
随着公用事业公司和州监管机构努力应对如何保护普通费率纳税人免受数据中心电力需求带来的价格飙升影响，类似的电价表提案在全美各地越来越受到关注。
Similar tariff proposals have gained traction across the country as utilities and state regulators grapple with how to insulate ratepayers from price spikes associated with data center power demand.