Fuel savings will decrease bills for Duke Energy Carolinas customers in South Carolina beginning this fall
August 3, 2020
Duke Energy Carolinas is proposing a decrease in monthly fuel costs for its South Carolina customers beginning this fall as part of an annual adjustment of the actual cost of fuel used to generate electricity at its power plants.
If approved, a typical residential customer in South Carolina using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month would see a decrease of $6.81, or about 5.6 percent. Commercial customers would see an average decrease in their bills of about 5.6 percent, and industrial customers would receive an average decrease of about 9.8 percent. The new rates would go into effect Oct. 1, 2020.
Duke Energy Carolinas makes a fuel cost recovery filing annually with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC). The fuel rate is based on the projected cost of fuel used to provide electric service to the company’s customers, plus a true-up of the prior year’s projection. By law, the company makes no profit from the fuel component of rates.
Duke Energy Carolinas works to actively manage its fuel contracts to keep fuel costs as low as possible for customers. Joint dispatch of Duke Energy’s generation fleet in the Carolinas also helps to minimize the company’s fuel costs. The PSCSC reviews fuel costs and adjusts the fuel component of customer rates accordingly.
Duke Energy Carolinas serves more than 600,000 customers primarily in the Upstate region of South Carolina. The proposed decrease would affect the bills of all Duke Energy Carolinas customers in South Carolina. The company’s other South Carolina utility — Duke Energy Progress — made its annual fuel filing earlier this year.
Duke Energy Carolinas
Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns nuclear, coal, natural gas, renewables and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 20,200 megawatts of owned electric capacity to about 2.6 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 29,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities and 2,300 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.
