Speak up now or pay more later

Raise your voice before they raise your rates

At a public hearing on the Progress Energy rate hike proposal on March 13, AARP members  once again sent a message to the North Carolina Utilities Commission that “rate hikes hurt fixed –income residents."AARP volunteer Margaret Toman, along with other opponents to the rate hikes, asked Commissioners to "walk in their shoes," and put the interests of average ratepayers ahead of corporate investors.

The public hearing in Raleigh is the last hearing before an expected decision.  After Progress, the Commission will rule on the request by Duke Energy which has asked for a 14 percent increase in 2013.

AARP ran a full-page ad in the News and Observer and held a rally that gained widespread media coverage. Although AARP has been successful in halving Progress Energy’s initial rate request of 11 percent to 4.7 percent this year, and 5.8 percent next year, it will continue to fight Progress and Duke rate hike proposals that ask residents to shoulder too much of the company’s expenses by asking those who use the least energy to pay the most

Help send a message that we need to keep utilities affordable by signing a petition at http://action.aarp.org/nc