Duke Energy to Seek Another Rate Hike in S.C.

By: Jessica Holdman/S.C. Daily Gazette

Duke Energy is again seeking to increase electricity rates, this time for all of its 857,000 South Carolina customers across the upper third of the state.

Less than a year after the utility last raised rates in the Upstate, power bills for those Duke Energy residential customers there could go up, on average, by $10.38 a month in March 2026. In the Pee Dee, residential customers could see a $21.66 monthly hike starting February 2026, roughly three years since the utility last raised rates for those customers.

“We know families and businesses are juggling a lot and we do not take a request to increase rates lightly but being upfront and timely with our request is the right thing to do and in the best interest of our customers.” Duke Energy’s South Carolina president, Tim Pearson, said in a statement.

In filings with state regulators, the North Carolina-headquartered company said it built 600 miles of new power lines and 6,800 transformers in 2023 and 2024.

It’s also seeking to charge South Carolina customers for a $90 million share of maintenance to its nuclear power plants, a $34 million share of its gas plants, a $43 million share of hydropower and an $11 million share of batteries for a solar farm.

In addition, the company wants to replenish its storm response fund in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Three months after the massive storm swept across the Southeast, knocking out power to 4.7 million customers in nine states, the company’s reserve fund had a negative balance of $23 million, the company wrote in documents filed with the state Public Service Commission.

“Duke Energy Carolinas just raised its rates less than a year ago, and now they are asking to hike bills once again. If its request is approved, residential customers’ bills will be nearly $23 a month higher than July 4th of last year,” said Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Kate Mixson.

Not to mention, the new rate hike, if approved, could take place before the old rate increase even goes fully into effect.

Rates are already set to bump again in the Upstate on Aug. 1, 2026, by $6.42 a month for the average customer using 1,000 kW hours of electricity a month.

That would bring the bill for that so-called average household in the Upstate to about $154 a month.

Electricity would be more expensive in the Pee Dee even without back-to-back hikes. The average bill for households there would rise to roughly $167 in March if the request is approved.

Tax credits passed during the first Trump administration will be extended as part of Republicans’ massive tax and spending package titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which received a final vote of approval Thursday.

But it’s unclear whether Duke would continue to pass any new savings from the extension on to its customers.

The pair of rate hikes also come on the heels of a mammoth new energy law signed by Gov. Henry McMaster in May.

Within that legislation is a provision making it easier for power companies to raise rates on an annual basis.

Utility executives say the process, coined as rate stabilization, raises rates on a smaller-but-more-frequent basis, making it easier for those on a fixed income to adjust. It also guarantees companies continue to receive the maximum rate of return allowed by regulators.

Utilities still go before regulators annually for up to five years to seek permission to raise prices. Rate payers can still protest, and regulators still have the final say over whether expenses meet the necessary requirements for an increase.

But the process is less in depth than the rate cases Duke is currently undertaking because it doesn’t call into question a utility company’s allowed profit rate.

Mosier said Duke has not invoked the new process and has “not yet created a plan as to how and when to use this new tool.”

Still, in regulatory filings, company representatives wrote that Duke is “pursuing a strategy of more timely, incremental rate requests.”

“While this rate case stands on its own, it reflects the spirit of that legislation, which promotes making proactive, thoughtful investments that strengthen energy security and help keep South Carolina attractive to new businesses and families and well-positioned for the future,” Mosier said in a statement.

The company is asking regulators to approve a 10.85% profit rate in both the Upstate and PeeDee, compared to the 9.94% rate it locked in last year in the Upstate.

Mixson, whose organization was among several environmental and consumer groups to negotiate down Duke Energy’s last rate hike proposal, called it “striking but not surprising.”

“There is no incentive for efficiency. There is no incentive for them to be sharp with their pencil now. And there’s no incentive to make sure they’re getting the lowest bid. It does not matter anymore because they will get their set profit,” said Frank Knapp, president of the Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

The Pee Dee rate change is scheduled to be considered by the state Public Service Commission in October 2025. A date has not yet been set for the Upstate rate change.