- Public Service Commission of South
Carolina approves nearly all components of a settlement
agreement
- Outcome supports company's efforts to increase system
reliability, diversityand enhance the customer experience
while keeping rates below national average
GREENVILLE, S.C., July 8, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) has approved new
customer rates based on a settlement agreement with almost all
parties in the Duke Energy Carolinas rate review request filed with
the commission in January of this year.
The changes in customer rates – which remain below the national
average – come after a lengthy and very public process evaluating a
request to recover investments made to increase system diversity
and reliability, enhance the customer experience and meet future
energy demands for nearly 660,000 customers primarily in the
Upstate region of South Carolina.
The agreement with almost all parties, including certain
consumer, environmental and industrial groups in South Carolina, was submitted in May. The
agreement was reached with the South Carolina Office of Regulatory
Staff, the South Carolina Energy Users Committee, Southern Alliance
for Clean Energy, Coastal Conservation League, Vote Solar, and the
South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. While not
signatories to the agreement, both Walmart and CMC Recycling did
not object to approval of the agreement.
Rate impacts
Beginning Aug. 1, 2024, a typical
residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will see an
increase of about 8.7% or $12.06 per
month. Beginning Aug. 1, 2026,
residential rates will increase another 4.3% resulting in an
additional $6.42 per month for a
typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours.
Beginning Aug. 1, 2024, commercial
and industrial customers will see an average increase of around
4.6% and 4.4%, respectively (actual rates vary by customer class
and size).
The net increase reflects the company's proposal to mitigate the
requested rate increase by accelerating over two years the return
of excess deferred income 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 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
corporate headquarters. The order also allows the company to
establish rates based upon a return on equity of 9.94% and an
equity component of the capital structure of 51.21%, as agreed to
in the settlement. The final order revised recovery of certain
environmental compliance costs, the only provision of the
settlement agreement not fully approved by the PSCSC.
Providing support for customers
The PSCSC also approved – at shareholder expense – $2 million to perform a study and convene a
collaborative of stakeholders to evaluate a broad spectrum of
regulatory programs and protections for low-income customers,
ranging from affordability programs, potential new tariffs, and
other initiatives focused on enhancing assistance for low-income
customers; and to help low-income customers complete health and
safety repairs, which will allow for an increase in customer
participation in programs that enable energy savings, such as the
South Carolina Local Weatherization Assistance Program.
Duke Energy has numerous current and proposed energy efficiency
programs available to customers who would like to exercise more
control over their usage to lower their bills, which could help
minimize the impact of the requested increase. Customers struggling
to pay their energy bills might also qualify for assistance from
various government and nonprofit programs for utility bills and
other household expenses. Duke Energy also offers programs and
resources to help customers manage their usage to lessen the impact
of rate changes, as well as flexible payment arrangements to help
customers experiencing uncertainty. Additional customer support is
available through the Share the Light Fund, a Duke Energy
program that provides energy assistance.
To learn more about these programs, visit
duke-energy.com/summersavings.
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 8.4 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio
and Kentucky, and collectively own
54,800 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves
1.7 million customers in North
Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious clean energy transition,
keeping reliability, affordability and accessibility at the
forefront as the company works toward net-zero methane emissions
from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions
from electricity generation by 2050. The company is investing in
major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including
expanded energy storage, renewables, natural gas and advanced
nuclear.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the
Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy
on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook,
and visit illumination for stories about the people and
innovations powering our energy transition.
24-Hour media line: 800.559.3853
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SOURCE Duke Energy