The promise: Duke recently inked the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge (alongside over 200 utilities). Now, state politicians are directing the utility to turn that pledge into action. “A promise in Washington doesn’t lower a power bill in North Carolina,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson said in a statement.
The context: Last week, Duke, the North Carolina Public Staff, and the Environmental Defense Fund reached a settlement to slash the utility’s two-year rate increase request from 18% to 9.5% (which AG Jackson said was still too high). If greenlit by the NC Utilities Commission, the lower rate hike would take effect on Jan 1.
What’s next: This settlement isn’t enough for AG Jackson and NC Gov. Josh Stein, who have presented Duke and the NC Utilities Commission with a to-do list: 1) Create a separate rate class for large loads 2) make “realistic” projections about data center growth and 3) create a BYO generation program for large load customers.
Molly Glick
Energy Central Team
Tue, Jul 28
NEWS: North Carolina officials want Duke to ‘put its money where its mouth is.’
1