After a winter cold snap drove up heating costs, nonprofits in North Carolina reported higher demand for utility assistance as rising prices for food, energy and other necessities strained household budgets.
Carol Hardison, chief executive of Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte, said 3,269 households sought utility help during the nonprofit’s 2025 “spring spike.” The average request was $514, though bills were often higher and many clients paid part of what they owed.
The nonprofit projected utility assistance needs from March through June 2026 would be $109,000 above the $548,000 it distributed during the same period in 2025. Hardison said some clients arrived after losing service. “People were coming in with oxygen tanks who didn’t have electricity,” she said.
Duke Energy Foundation, which supports Crisis Assistance Ministry, said it would add $500,000 to its Share the Light Fund, a utility assistance program. The foundation said more than $1 million had been distributed through the fund in 2026. It also announced $500,000 in grants for nonprofits serving older adults, with eligible groups able to apply by May 29 for $25,000 awards.
More than 82,000 customers in North Carolina and South Carolina signed an online petition calling for an independent audit of Duke’s billing system. Duke also asked regulators to approve an 18% electricity rate increase over two years, which filings said could raise monthly bills by about $28 in 2027 and $34 in 2028. The company also requested a temporary increase to recover $800 million spent buying power from neighboring utilities during the January and February cold stretches.
Duke spokesperson Madison McDonald said the rate requests were tied to grid upgrades and storm resilience.
Hardison said wage growth remained central to affordability. North Carolina’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, unchanged since 2009. Democratic lawmakers recently filed House Bill 1059, which would let local governments set wages as high as $15 an hour and index future increases to inflation.