RALEIGH, N.C.— The Sierra Club on Monday filed a petition to intervene in Duke Energy Progress’ request to raise customers’ bills by 16.7 percent, or about $17.80 per month for the average residential monthly bill.
Duke is seeking approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission of a $477.5 million increase in the amount the utility can collect from ratepayers each year.
A significant amount of the proposed rate hike would cover past and future costs relating to coal ash cleanup. Duke wants customers to pay for it to get back the $311 million it spent dealing with coal ash at its Asheville, Mayo, Roxboro, Cape Fear, Lee, Robinson, Sutton and Weatherspoon facilities in 2015 and 2016.
In addition, Duke wants to change the existing rate structure to almost double the fixed charge that residential customers pay—from $11.13 to $19.50.
This fixed charge wouldn’t depend on the amount of electricity used each month, so it would put a disproportionate burden on customers who typically use less electricity, such as people with lower incomes, as well people who have invested in energy efficiency measures to lower their bills.
In response to the filing, Dave Rogers, the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign representative in North Carolina, released the following statement:
“Duke shouldn’t be allowed to shift the billions it will cost to clean up its coal ash mess away from the company and its shareholders and onto the general public.
“This rate hike would especially hurt people on low and fixed incomes, who shouldn’t have to pay nearly $20 dollars a month before they even flip a switch in their homes, just to bail out Duke for its bad decisions.
“The best way forward for Duke and the people it serves is to phase out its dirty, dangerous fossil fuels and replace them with cheap, home-grown clean energy that saves customers money and protects both our air and water, as well as our most vulnerable communities.”