Duke Energy is a regulated utility generating and distributing electricity across the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
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Duke Energy is America's largest coal ash polluter, with criminal convictions for Clean Water Act violations and documented groundwater contamination across multiple states. Its 72Mt annual Scope 1 emissions remain stubbornly high despite 48% cuts from 2005 baseline. The company lobbies against renewable standards while building new gas plants, undermining stated climate commitments.
Duke Energy scores 25/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Fees pay for the review, never the result. Last verified May 2026.
That places Duke Energy joint 728th of 847 companies scored, and joint 19th of 20 in Energy Supply / Utilities.
Duke Energy is tied at the bottom of the energy supply / utilities pack.
Among the 20 major energy supply / utilities brands we've scored, Duke Energy is tied =19th of 20, with 1 other.
Its three lowest-scoring questions, and what the evidence didn't show.
Forest management plan exists but no TNFD-aligned biodiversity assessment or impact quantification.
Duke withdrew enormous water volumes via once-through cooling; 98% returned but coal ash contaminated groundwater with arsenic, mercury, cadmium, cobalt, lithium, thallium, radium.
Not on RE100.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Evidence that isn't public can count through an evidence review.
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Get in touch →Strongest on Carbon Footprint — Operations and Transparency & Accountability (6/10, 5/10). Weakest on Nature & Biodiversity Impact and Water Impact (2/10, 2/10).
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Duke Energy.
Scored as the Eesti Energia GROUP — the oil-shale electricity generation and shale-oil business (Enefit Power) consolidated with the renewables subsidiary (Enefit Green), not Enefit Green alone (which would score far higher in isolation).
See the breakdown →British Gas operates as a major energy supplier with significant fossil fuel assets through parent company Centrica.
See the breakdown →NextEra Energy is the world's largest renewable generator but operates as a fossil-fuel utility with no climate targets after abandoning its 2045 goal in 2025.
See the breakdown →The formula and all 17 sources.
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale17 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
12 of 17 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
Duke Energy is a regulated utility generating and distributing electricity across the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Founded in 1904 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is one of the largest power producers in the US, with 2022 revenue of $28.7 billion. The company operates coal, nuclear, natural gas, and renewable generation.
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