CHARLOTTE — Duke Energy has been selected for $50 million in federal funding toward a $201.4 million transmission project that includes Henderson and Polk counties.
The U.S. Department of Energy listed Duke Energy Carolinas as the prime applicant for the proposed Unlocking Networked Line Operations for Capacity & Knowledge in Carolinas project, known as UNLOCK Carolinas. The federal selection record gives the requested federal share as $50 million and the total project value as $201,437,390.
Duke Energy said the work would include Henderson and Polk counties in North Carolina and Greenville and Spartanburg counties in South Carolina. The Charlotte-headquartered utility expects to pair the federal selection with approximately $151 million of its own investment.
The project would upgrade transmission lines and deploy advanced transmission technologies, including advanced conductors and dynamic line ratings. Duke said those tools could increase usable capacity on existing infrastructure, improve outage response and allow targeted upgrades to move faster than conventional transmission expansion.
The company said the federal funding would offset part of the projected cost, reducing the amount that otherwise would be funded by customers. The project is intended to support growing electricity demand and grid resilience in areas that include western North Carolina communities affected by Hurricane Helene.
The selection is not a final award or a notice that construction has begun. Duke’s Sept. 24 announcement says the funding remains subject to negotiations with DOE, and the federal record says project details may change before a formal financial-assistance agreement is finalized.