Under the proposal, residential rates for Duke Energy Carolinas customers would increase nearly 12%, and by more than 14% for Duke Energy Progress customers. This is what Duke is proposing:
- Residential rates for DEC customers would increase 11.9% in 2027 and 4% in 2028.
- Residential rates for DEP customers would increase 14.1% in 2027 and 3.5% in 2028.
- Commercial rates for DEC customers would increase 8.7% in 2027 and 3.9% in 2028.
- Commercial rates for DEP customers would increase 9.2% in 2027 and 4.6% in 2028.
- Industrial rates for DEC customers would increase 6.3% in 2027 and 3.4% in 2028.
- Industrial rates for DEP customers would increase 7.4% in 2027 and 4.3% in 2028.
Residential rate hikes are higher, in part, because they fund distribution upgrades that don’t serve industrial customers, according to Duke Energy. That includes the lines that deliver power to homes and neighborhoods.
Shannon Binns, executive director of Sustain Charlotte, said low- to moderate-income households are being squeezed from both sides.
“It is harder to pay the bills when all the bills keep going up, and income is not going up in the same way,” Binns said. His nonprofit returned a $10,000 sponsorship to Duke Energy early this year. The move came after Binns learned that the utility signed on to a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin requesting that the federal agency roll back carbon and coal ash regulations…