CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Duke Energy and county officials will test the outdoor warning sirens around the Catawba and McGuire nuclear stations between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
Why it matters: To ensure they are functioning properly, sirens will sound for five to 30 seconds. Anyone who hears a siren during scheduled testing does not need to take action.
- During testing, some sirens may be tested more than once. Follow-up testing after siren maintenance may be required after 1 p.m.
- Because this is a test, local broadcasting stations will not interrupt regular programming to broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages. If there was a real emergency requiring the sirens to be sounded, local radio and television stations would broadcast information to the public.
By the numbers: Duke Energy owns and maintains a network of sirens within 10 miles of each of its nuclear plants, including 89 sirens around Catawba Nuclear Station, located in York, S.C., and 67 sirens around McGuire Nuclear Station, located in Huntersville, N.C.
More info: Testing is performed in cooperation with emergency management officials in Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties in North Carolina, and York County in South Carolina, who are responsible for sounding the sirens. Additional details about outdoor warning sirens and nuclear emergency preparedness are available at duke-energy.com/NuclearEP.
Zoom out: McGuire Nuclear Station is located on Lake Norman in Mecklenburg County and provides 2,316 megawatts of reliable energy to the grid – enough to power more than 1.7 million homes. Catawba Nuclear Station is located on Lake Wylie in York County, S.C. and provides 2,310 megawatts – enough to power more than 1.7 million homes.
Duke Energy Carolinas
Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 20,700 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. The company’s electric utilities serve 8.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,100 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious energy transition, keeping customer reliability and value at the forefront as it builds a smarter energy future. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including natural gas, nuclear, renewables and energy storage.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.
