Hedge Fund Electric: $5 Billion in 2025 Profits. 18% in 2026-2027 Rate Hikes
Behold Duke Energy:
“(A)n American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company serves over 7 million customers in the eastern United States.”
2025 was a very good year for The Duke:
“Duke Energy reported nearly $5 billion in net income for 2025, reflecting a significant increase from the previous year.”
But that seems to be nowhere enough profit for The Duke. In 2026….
“Privatize the profit - socialize the costs?” You betcha.
Utility companies are their own personalized legal black hole. Private companies own them - but get all sorts of government cronyism to aid and abet their profit making and taking.
It’s a quintessential example of the Diet Fascism that now dominates the US.
Perhaps the biggest of the very many crony gifts governments bestow upon utility companies?
The Regulatory Compact:
“It allows investor-owned utilities to hold a monopoly - as long as they are willing to be regulated.
“Now depending upon what state you’re in? Utility companies are guaranteed a profit of 9-to-10-11 percent. Some states I believe it’s as high as 14 percent….
“Under the Regulatory Compact? All of their expenses are passed directly on to the customer. Fuel, maintenance,….
“Now they (the governments) thought for whatever reason this was a good thing. Because as long as the costs are directly passed through to the customer - then the utility can’t profit on it.
“That’s not true at all.
“Because when the utility company needs to spend a billion dollars on the grid? It’s the customers that have to pay for it.
“And when it’s over with? They (the utility company) have another billion dollar asset. That is capable of transmitting significantly more electricity.
“And enriching the utility company even more.”
As with all of the US’s Diet Fascism? The highest bidders always get the government goodies.
Enter the hedge fund sharks. The biggest bidders of them all.
And what’s even easier for hedge funds than bribing government officials for new cronyism?
Buying into sectors with existing cronyism built-in.
Well…guess who owns Duke Energy?:
“Duke Energy is a publicly traded company primarily owned by institutional investors, with Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street among the largest shareholders.”
Yes, the same hedge funds that are buying up all the nation’s housing. And entire cities’ worth of local businesses. And…pretty much everything else…:
“(G)rocery brands, dental practices, apartment buildings, and nursing homes….”
Including, of course,….
Private Equity Firms Like BlackRock SNAPPING UP Public Utilities & Electric Bills to SKYROCKET
And the bills are skyrocketing with hedge fund-owned Duke Energy.
Now, per the Regulatory Compact? Utilities have to get government permission to raise rates.
But we are now decades into the US’s Diet Fascism. The hedge funds’ll kick in a little extra to the local pols? And the local pols will approve the hedge funds’ rate increases.
The greatest returns on investment (ROI) in human history? Result from private sector payments to government officials.
And as an added bonus for the Duke’s victims - oops, I mean customers?
We have Big Tech - and their monstrous data centers. And, of course, Big Tech gets some cronyism too:
“In the proposal, industrial customers would be subject to a lower rate increase of 12% over two years.”
So Google and Facebook pay 12% more. Ma and Pa Carolina pay 18% more.
Of course that is atrocious. But it is perfectly typical of mid-21st Century Diet Fascism.
Here in the gold ole US of A.
All of this reminds, after a fashion, of a bit from comedian Bill Burr:
“There’s nothing wrong with being a billionaire. But if somebody is working forty hours a week, 160 hours a month - and they can’t make their rent? You’re not paying them enough money. Maybe you should just be worth $900 million.
“How does a CEO take an eight-figure bonus - and none of your employees have dental insurance. They can’t even go out and get a filling.”
Hey Duke Energy hedge funds:
You made $5 billion last year.
How about eating into that - just a little?
And forget about your attempted nigh 20% rate increase?
Just a thought.
From over here in Humanity.