Duke Energy Carolinas Proposes New Rates to Build Stronger Energy Future for SC Customers

(Photo courtesy of Duke Energy)

By David Dykes

Duke Energy Carolinas on July 1, 2025, asked South Carolina regulators to perform a public review of the company’s current rates.

The company’s application in front of the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) requests an overall annual revenue increase of $150.5 million, which represents a 7.7 percent increase over current revenues.

If approved, monthly electric bills for typical residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would increase $10.38 a month – from $136.82 per month to $147.19 – effective March 1, 2026.

Commercial customers will see an average increase of 5.4 percent and industrial customers will see an average increase of around 5.2 percent.

Duke Energy officials said the amount of increase per customer class can vary based upon how much more additional revenue is needed to ensure that the class is covering the cost to serve them.

The company last requested a review of base rates for customers in early 2024. Since then, the company said it has made upgrades to strengthen the grid, improve reliability and storm resilience, and maintain and upgrade its generation fleet.

Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 20,800 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 2.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 24,000-square-mile service area in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Duke Energy Carolinas provides retail electric service to customers in the following counties in South Carolina: Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Saluda, Spartanburg, Union and York.

According to the company:

• This proposal reflects the investments it has made to strengthen the grid, improve storm readiness, maintain and enhance its generating fleet and serve a growing customer base.
• It also reflects how the company is doing that work: with discipline, with a focus on operational excellence, and with a thoughtful approach to how and when it seeks rate adjustments.

Also, according to the company, its grid investments have positioned it well for storm response.

• For example, as Hurricane Helene made its way across the Carolinas, grid improvements were already helping to combat power outages from the storm.
• Smart, self-healing technology installed across the Duke Energy Carolinas service territory helped to automatically restore more than 35,000 customer outages and saved more than 153,000 hours of total outage time, showing the value of the self-healing programs.

“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,” said Tim Pearson, Duke Energy’s South Carolina president.

In June, Duke Energy Progress asked South Carolina regulators to perform a public review of the company’s current rates.

The company’s application in front of the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) requests an overall revenue increase of $74.8 million, which represents a 12.1 percent increase over current revenues.

If approved, monthly electric bills for typical residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would increase $21.66 a month – from $144.85 per month to $166.51 – effective Feb. 1, 2026.

Commercial customers will see an average increase of 12.8 percent and industrial customers will see an average increase of around 3.6 percent.

Duke Energy Progress serves about 177,000 customers primarily in central and northeastern South Carolina.

In this case, it marks the company’s first request to review rates since 2022. It comes as the company said it continues working to increase system diversity and reliability, enhance the customer experience and meet future energy demands.

Duke Energy officials reiterated that the amount of increase per customer class can vary based upon how much more additional revenue is needed to ensure that the class is covering the cost to serve them.