Duke Energy Carolinas proposes annual update to fuel charges for South Carolina customers

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Jul 28, 2017, 12:48 ET

GREENVILLE, S.C., July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy Carolinas today made its annual filing with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) for the costs associated with the purchase of fuel to generate electricity at its power plants.

The PSCSC reviews fuel costs and adjusts the fuel component of customer rates accordingly. By law, the company makes no profit from the fuel component of rates.

If approved, the total monthly impact for a typical residential customer in South Carolina using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month would be an increase of $1.69.

Commercial customers would see an average increase in the fuel charge of about 3.2 percent, and industrial customers would receive an average increase of about 4.0 percent.

The main reasons for the proposed overall increase in rates include:

A true-up component of the fuel rate intended to resolve the difference between projected fuel costs and what is actually billed to customers
An increase in expenditures related to distributed energy resource initiatives to meet the goals of Act 236 (or the Distributed Energy Resource Program Act)

If approved by the PSCSC, the new fuel rates would go into effect Oct. 1.

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.

Duke Energy Carolinas

Duke Energy Carolinas owns nuclear, coal-fired, natural gas, renewables and hydroelectric generation. That diverse fuel mix provides approximately 19,700 megawatts of owned electric capacity to about 2.5 million customers in a 24,000-square-mile service area of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States. Its Electric Utilities and Infrastructure business unit serves approximately 7.5 million customers located in six states in the Southeast and Midwest. The company's Gas Utilities and Infrastructure business unit distributes natural gas to approximately 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its Commercial Renewables business unit operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the United States.

Duke Energy is a Fortune 125 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

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SOURCE Duke Energy