Florence and Sumter Public Hearings in Duke Energy Progress Rate Case

Public Hearings Scheduled in Florence and Sumter on Duke Energy Progress Proposed Fee Hike

Groups encourage customers to attend the hearings and speak out against the unjust fee hike

March 18 , 2019 - Two public hearings have been scheduled in Florence and Sumter on the topic of Duke Energy Progress’s proposed fee hike. Before going into effect, the fee hike must be approved by the S.C. Public Service Commission, which has scheduled the hearings in order to hear from customers.
A coalition of public interest groups, including the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, Consumer Reports, AARP South Carolina, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, encourage Duke Energy customers to attend the hearings and speak up about how the fee hike would negatively impact them.
Background: Duke Energy has proposed tripling the hidden mandatory fee on its customers’ bills — from about $8-$9 per month to $28-$29 per month. Since this “Basic Facilities Charge” must be paid each month, no matter how much or how little electricity is used, customers would have to pay at least $336 per year before even flipping on a light switch. If approved, this would be one of the highest mandatory monthly fees for residential customers of any investor-owned utility in the nation, and would place a particularly heavy burden upon low-usage customers including low-income families, seniors, and those using solar energy or energy efficiency/conservation.

To learn more about the proposed fee hike, click here.
Details: Details on the public hearings are as follows:

FLORENCE
Monday, April 1, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.
Florence County Council Chambers, 180 N. Irby Street, Florence, South Carolina 29501

SUMTER
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.
USC Sumter - Nettles Auditorium, 200 Miller Road, Sumter, South Carolina 29150

The docket number for this case is 2018-318-E.

Additional information on the public hearings can be found on the S.C. Public Service Commission’s website 

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