The N.C. House today voted 112-2 to pass an amended version of S 559, Storm Securitization/Alt. Rates, revising a section that would have allowed Duke Energy to seek permission for multiple years of rate increases in one request.
Rep. Larry Strickland amended the measure to turn the controversial multi-year ratemaking section into a study. S 559 would now require the N.C. Utilities Commission to study a variety of utility tools to modernize the ratemaking process, including performance-based ratemaking, revenue decoupling and multi-year ratemaking. The study would be due to the legislature in March 2020. Rep. John Szoka, co-chair of the Energy and Public Utilities Committee, spoke in support of the amendment.
A non-controversial section of the bill remains; it would allow power companies to seek NCUC permission to issue a bond to help pay for clean-up after storms and other natural disasters.
S 559, which had been stalled in the House since early July, will next go to the Senate for a concurrence vote. The N.C. Sierra Club calls on the Senate to concur with the House changes.
"S 559, as amended, opens the door to truly modernizing our outdated utility model by requiring the Utilities Commission to study a variety of ratemaking tools instead of just the ones that benefit Duke Energy," said Molly Diggins, state director of the N.C. Sierra Club. "There are many utility ratemaking tools that could benefit the environment and customers that were not included in this bill because it was crafted by and for the utility, not the public. We urge the Senate to agree with these changes."