CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Duke Energy is facing mounting criticism from tens of thousands of customers in the Carolinas. An online petition calls for regulators to audit the Charlotte-based energy giant and issue refunds for high electric bills over the last few months.
Jerrica Ponder, who describes herself as a working parent from Raleigh, is the woman behind the now viral Change.org petition. Within three weeks of putting the petition online, Ponder gathered around 35,000 signatures from Duke customers frustrated with higher-than-expected electric bills.
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“We have tried to cut back, unplug things, turn lights off, and some people, they travel for work, and their bills are still high,” said Ponder.
Many who signed the petition blamed their higher bills on recent rate hikes, hikes that Duke Energy insists were minimal.
“For a customer using a thousand kilowatt hours, that came out to be about a $4 increase,” said Duke spokesperson Caroline Fountain…