Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC v. Kiser

Summary

The court held that Duke’s easement gave it broad authority to permit third-party homeowners to construct docks, piers, and other shoreline structures over and into the submerged property and to use the lake recreationally. The easement’s clear and unambiguous grant of absolute water rights and authority to treat the property in any manner deemed necessary or desirable encompassed those activities, and the parties’ longstanding practices and Duke’s federal licensing obligations confirmed that interpretation. The court reversed the Court of Appeals.