Trump tax cut allowed Duke Energy to reduce costs for customers ‘by over a billion dollars’: Lynn Good

Duke Energy President & CEO Lynn Good joins 'Influencers with Andy Serwer' to discuss how Washington policy can affect your energy costs.

Video Transcript

ANDY SERWER: I want to ask you about the tax burden that you pay. Is it enough? Should you pay more? What do you think about tax reform when it comes to your company?

LYNN GOOD: I think there are a couple of things I would talk about, Andy. And as tax reform is being discussed, one of the things that is being discussed is tax incentives around this clean energy transition. So tax incentives for electrification, electric vehicles, EV infrastructure, perhaps battery storage, perhaps extension of tax incentives for wind and solar. So I think all of those things are complementary to the clean energy transition that we're talking about. But one of the things that's unique about a regulated company like Duke Energy is income taxes are part of the cost of delivering electricity.

And so what I mean by that is when tax rates came down, I reduced the cost of electricity to my customers by over a billion dollars. It did not stay in the corporate coffers of Duke Energy, it flowed right to customers. And similarly, if taxes rise it becomes something that we'll work with our regulators and customers on to try to minimize the impact. So it is just part of what a regulated company does. And so we're focused, of course, on this within that construct of affordability, and also the incentives to help align with the clean energy transition.