NC WARN

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson is disputing Duke Energy’s description of a proposed electricity rate increase, arguing that the company misrepresented under oath how much residential customers would pay under a recent settlement agreement.

The disagreement comes as Duke Energy seeks approval for a settlement that would raise rates by 6.8% over the next two years. The proposal would affect customers across the Triangle and other parts of the state.

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Climate advocacy group NC WARN also raised concerns about the proposal.

“You know, last year, Duke reported a record $5 billion in profits, while many North Carolinians are really struggling to pay for their electric bills,” said Sara Heilman of NC WARN.

Jackson argues that residential customers would see a 9.3% increase rather than the 6.8% increase referenced by Duke Energy. Heilman said that level of increase remains unacceptable.

“But really, from our perspective, 9.3% is still too high of an increase for residential customers, especially when those increases in the bills that we’re paying are really going towards building unnecessary power plants, fueling these massive power-guzzling data centers that communities are not asking for and really not serving the interests of the average North Carolinian,” Heilman said.

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North Carolina regulators are weighing Duke Energy’s rate-hike requests that could raise power bills for customers across the state.

By Autumn Bracey

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said he will not sign a proposed settlement in the Duke Energy Progress rate case that would raise residential electric bills by about 6.8% over the next two years.

The utility’s original filing had sought an 18.1% increase on residential rates over two years. Duke announced a settlement last week with the North Carolina Public Staff and other parties, and in testimony before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, Kendal Bowman, North Carolina president for Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas, said the residential rate increase would now be 6.8% over two years.

“Duke brought down their rate increase to 6.8%, but that’s still too high for families and still more than the company needs to cover its investments,” Jackson said. “We’re not signing it.”

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Regulators hold hearings

On Tuesday, the North Carolina Utilities Commission held hearings on the proposed increase.

WCNC spoke with NC WARN, a nonprofit that educates the public about Duke Energy’s practices. The group says that while customers have seen some wins with lower rates in the past, the new requests are a reminder of why it’s important to keep paying attention.

“I think it’s really important we question the reason for these rate increases,” Sara Heilman, clean energy strategist for NC WARN, said. “We understand the connection and correlation between requested rate increases and Duke Energy’s business model, which really serves to profit its executives and shareholders at the expense of affordability for North Carolinians.”

Rising bill despite falling usage

Heilman also pointed out that per-capita electricity use has actually declined over time, which she says makes it even more important for policymakers to scrutinize the data before approving any rate hikes.

“Our allies at the Energy and Policy Institute show customers, even using the same amount of electricity over the same years, are still seeing increases in their power bills,” Heilman said. “It really has a lot to do with Duke Energy’s investments in fossil fuels, like fracked-gas power plants, and the connection between those investments and the affordability crisis.”

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By Renee Umsted

As temperatures in the Triangle soar, Duke Energy customers are noticing higher bills.

On social media, customers claim they’re not using more energy, or that they’re trying to use less. But they still say that bills are getting higher each month, and are more expensive than this time last year.

Are high temperatures to blame for expensive energy bills?

It’s summertime. It’s hot and humid. Your air conditioning system is working harder to cool your home.

And if you ask Duke Energy, that’s the story.

“Cooling demand across North Carolina was 43% above normal by July 4 following multiple periods of extreme heat, according to federal weather data,” the Charlotte-based company wrote in an Aug. 7 news release. “For many customers, increased air-conditioning use is the primary reason energy use and bills may be higher than normal.”

Is it Duke Energy’s fault?

But there are other factors to blame for higher bills, said Sara Heilman, clean energy strategist at NC WARN, a nonprofit that advocates for a transition to clean energy and promotes energy and climate justice.

“I think the most central thing contributing to rising electric bills is that there is a direct correlation between profit for Duke Energy executives and investors, and rising costs for North Carolinians,” Heilman said in a video interview.

Duke Energy reported $5 billion in profits last year, The News & Observer previously reported. Last week, it reported its strongest-ever second quarter (April through June), with more than $1 billion in net income.

When the utility builds new infrastructure such as a power plant or high-voltage power line, customers pay for the cost of the project, plus an additional percentage as profit, Heilman said.

“There’s this incentive for Duke to be building as much as possible, even when it’s not necessarily needed,” Heilman said.

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By Henry Taylor

On Wednesday, August 5, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners held a special meeting to hear the thoughts and concerns of residents regarding a proposed natural gas pipeline from the utility company Enbridge. More than 300 people who are against the development attended, and 50 of them spoke directly to the board.

The pipeline would stretch 28 miles from Siler City to Moncure and pass through the private property of residents. While Enbridge says it would be used to support the county’s growing population and industry, many residents fear the environmental impacts, the negative effect on property values and that the pipeline would be used to support a proposed data center. Some have already received notice from the company that their property could soon host an easement. Enbridge plans to use eminent domain laws to survey and ultimately create 50-foot-wide easements on private property in order to complete the 12-inch wide pipeline.

“Fossil fuels are not the future, they are truly fossils, dinosaurs of the past,” said Susie Crate, a Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University who lives in Bynum. “We need to preserve and protect the precious farmland and heritage that is remaining in our county. And we need to listen to the residents, both long-term and newly arrived, who are speaking out and saying no.”

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Another speaker at the meeting was Sara Heilman, the clean energy strategist at NC WARN, a nonprofit which advocates for environmental causes across North Carolina. She said while the state is rapidly developing, a natural gas pipeline would cause more harm than good.

“Any investment that North Carolina makes into fossil fuel infrastructure is one that further entrenches us in a fossil fuel future,” said Heilman. “If we do in fact need more power to fuel growing businesses in the state, I think it’s important that we fuel those  businesses with clean energy. Local solar installations, battery installations…these are faster to install, cheaper, much more equitable and less polluting than these proposed fossil fuel projects.”

She said both her organization and the Haw River Assembly are urging the county to ask the state to require an environmental impact statement. They also want the county to ask the state to require individual permitting for any area where the pipeline would cross water sources, rather than allowing Enbridge to use one permit for the whole project. These are ultimately state-level decisions – as Chatham County Commissioner Amanda Robertson shared in a written statement from the board.

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CEO Harry Sideris said the company is deploying more than $1 billion per month to meet “record demand.” Advocates say the utility has exaggerated projections to justify spending.

By Emma Penrod

Duke Energy is committed to finding affordability solutions for customers amid rising demand — and opposition to the company’s $103 billion spending plan, company leaders said during a Tuesday earnings call.

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The utility faces criticism in North Carolina, where it originally requested some $1.7 billion in additional revenue via base rate increases in 2027 and 2028. Sideris said Duke Energy had negotiated settlements in North Carolina that would authorize $1.1 billion of the company’s request. But the proposed rate increases have also led to calls for a moratorium on data center development in North Carolina.

In a letter to the state’s governor, NC Warn, an advocacy group focused on climate and energy justice, argued that Duke Energy testimony in the two rate cases revealed that electricity use in the state has declined despite population growth, that the utility has exaggerated its own growth projections and that the company is recruiting large load customers in order to justify its spending plan.

“This is a scandal and crime being perpetrated against the people of North Carolina who are already struggling with soaring power bills, repeated devastation by storms and assaults on their communities by massive data center developers whop provide almost no jobs after initial construction,” NC Warn wrote.

The utility company is also facing a dispute in Indiana over a rate hike approved last year. The state’s ratepayer advocate has accused Duke of over collecting more than $89 million. At the same time, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has been roiled by change, with Gov. Mike Braun expressing displeasure over recent rate hikes before firing Andy Zay from the commission this week after demoting him from its chairmanship.

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