Starting next month, Duke Energy customers in South Carolina will pay higher rates after a settlement agreement was approved Monday by the state Public Utilities Commission. The agreement with nearly all parties, including some South Carolina consumer, environmental and industry groups, was submitted in May and includes rate increases that will take effect this summer, as well as in two years, according to the company. The video above was released on April 9, 2024, during public hearings held as part of the approval process. Company officials said that starting Aug. 1, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will see an increase of about 8.7%, or $12.06 per month. Residential rates will increase again starting Aug. 1, 2026, by another 4.3%, resulting in an additional $6.42 per month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours, officials said. They said commercial and industrial customers will see an average increase of about 4.6% and 4.4%, respectively, starting Aug. 1, 2024, but actual rates will vary by customer category and size. Learn more about the new rates here. “The changes in customer rates — which remain below the national average — come after a lengthy and very public process evaluating a request to recoup investments made to increase system diversity and reliability, improve the customer experience and meet the future energy demands of nearly 660,000 customers, primarily in the Upstate South Carolina region,” Duke Energy Carolinas officials said on its website. The net increase reflects the Company’s proposal to mitigate the requested rate increase by accelerating over two years the return of excess deferred tax benefits resulting from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Tax Act”). This reduction would expire after two years. Provisions of the settlement agreement approved by the PSCSC include the recovery of new investments in highly efficient natural gas, nuclear, solar and hydroelectric units, as well as the recovery of the Company’s significant investments in the grid and its new headquarters. The order also allows the Company to set rates based on a 9.94% return on equity and a 51.21% equity component of the capital structure, as agreed to in the settlement. The final order revised the recovery of certain environmental compliance costs, the only provision of the settlement agreement not fully approved by the PSCSC. The PSCSC also approved — at shareholder expense — $2 million to conduct a study and convene a stakeholder group to evaluate a broad range of regulatory programs and protections for low-income customers, ranging from affordability programs, potential new rates, and other initiatives focused on improving assistance to low-income customers; and helping low-income customers make health and safety repairs, which will increase customer participation in energy-saving programs, such as the South Carolina Local Weather Assistance Program. The agreement with nearly all parties, including some South Carolina consumer, environmental, and industry groups, was submitted in May. The agreement was reached with the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff, the South Carolina Energy Users Committee, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Coastal Conservation League, Vote Solar, and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Although they are not signatories to the agreement, Walmart and CMC Recycling did not oppose the approval of the deal.
Starting next month, Duke Energy customers in South Carolina will pay higher rates after a settlement agreement was approved Monday by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The agreement with nearly all parties, including some South Carolina consumer, environmental and industry groups, was submitted in May and includes rate increases that will take effect this summer and in two years, the company said.
The video above was released on April 9, 2024, during public hearings held as part of the approval process.
Company officials said that starting Aug. 1, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will see an increase of about 8.7 percent, or $12.06 per month.
Residential rates will increase again starting Aug. 1, 2026, by another 4.3%, resulting in an additional cost of $6.42 per month for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours, officials said.
They said commercial and industrial customers will see an average increase of about 4.6% and 4.4%, respectively, starting August 1, 2024, but actual rates will vary by customer category and size.
Learn more about the new rates here
“The changes in customer rates – which remain below the national average – come after a lengthy and very public process evaluating a request to recoup investments made to increase system diversity and reliability, improve the customer experience and meet the future energy demands of nearly 660,000 customers, primarily in the upstate South Carolina region,” Duke Energy Carolinas officials said on its website.
The net increase reflects the Company’s proposal to mitigate the requested rate increase by accelerating the repayment of excess deferred tax benefits resulting from the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Tax Act”) over two years. This reduction would expire after two years.
Provisions of the settlement agreement approved by the PSCSC include recovery of new investments in highly efficient natural gas, nuclear, solar and hydroelectric units, as well as recovery of the company’s significant investments in the grid and its new headquarters. The order also allows the company to set rates based on a 9.94% return on equity and a 51.21% equity component of the capital structure, as agreed to in the agreement. The final order revised the recovery of certain environmental compliance costs, the only provision of the settlement agreement that was not fully approved by the PSCSC.
The PSCSC also approved – at shareholder expense – $2 million to conduct a study and convene a stakeholder group to evaluate a broad range of regulatory programs and protections for low-income customers, ranging from affordability programs, potential new rates and other initiatives focused on improving assistance to low-income customers; and to help low-income customers make health and safety repairs, which will increase customer participation in energy-saving programs, such as South Carolina’s Local Weather Assistance Program.
The agreement with nearly all parties, including some South Carolina consumer, environmental and industry groups, was submitted in May.
The agreement was reached with the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff, the South Carolina Energy Users Committee, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Coastal Conservation League, Vote Solar and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.
Although not signatories to the agreement, Walmart and CMC Recycling did not oppose approval of the agreement.