A new cost-recovery method for Duke Energy’s energy efficiency programs is now in effect in North and South Carolina.

The new method started January 1 and is in effect for three years. Duke will be able to recover the cost of approved energy efficiency and demand-side management programs and make an 11.5 percent profit on the value of the energy saved. It can collect $400,000 more in any year that its energy savings is one percent or better than the savings in the previous year.

The program is seen as a way to reduce the need for dirty power generation and could encourage Duke to look to efficiency as the first resource to meet energy demands in the two states.