Duke Energy Increases Imposes Hardship

By Bridgette A. Lacy for AARP

When the N.C. Utilities Commission announced in February that Progress Energy would only receive about half of the rate increase the company requested, Wilmington resident Sonya Bennetone said “Any increase is going to impose a hardship on the residents who can least afford it.”

Progress Energy and the Public Staff of the Utilities Commission agreed to slash the power company’s initial 11 percent rate increase request to 4.7 percent in the first year and 5.7 percent in subsequent years. However, retirees living on a fixed-income and working class Carolinians scraping by cannot afford another hardship. The final decision is up to the Utilities Commission, but Public Staff settlements carry considerable weight with the Commission.

(Progress Energy Carolinas became a subsidiary of Duke Energy last year.)

Bennetone, a 49-year-old mother of three, voiced her concerns recently during a public hearing which is still going on even though the rate hike issue appears to be decided.

“The end result of this settlement will cause struggling seniors and families to suffer even more,” said Doug Dickerson, state director of AARP North Carolina. “Food, gasoline, and out-of-pocket medical costs are already rising several times more than Social Security adjustments. And now, power bills will spike even higher. We are dealing with very profitable companies that hold a monopoly on residents. Why should Duke investors profit at the expense of millions of hard-working and retired North Carolinians?”

Ruth Zalph, a retired 82-year-old teacher, says Duke Energy is asking consumers to pay in advance so it can build a new nuclear plant. “No bank or financial institution will lend them the money,” she says.

Duke has asked for a 14 percent rate hike this year which the Commission will rule on in the near future. Long-term plans also being considered call for serial rate hikes to fund future construction for energy used here and in other states.

It doesn’t sit well with consumer advocates like AARP that a bill in the legislature would give Gov. Pat McCrory, a major shareholder and former Duke Energy employee for 28 years, the authority to sweep out the current members of key state regulatory commissions, including the Utility Commission, and replace them with members appointed by the governor and/or the legislature.

“Progress/Duke Energy continues its forced march towards extravagant rates without regard to the impact on low-income North Carolinians,” says Gene Nichol, director of the UNC Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity. “It has now become a sort of dance — Duke spends outrageous amounts on its executives, asks for ridiculous increases in its rates, and then settles, happliy, for half. It looks like the regulators are doing their job and Duke is behaving. The only ones that lose are the citizens of North Carolina. But don’t expect it to change. They have the wheels well-oiled by now.”

Advocates for affordable energy are asking concerned residents to voice their concerns to the Commission and to attend public hearings being held in March. In the meantime, they encourage residents who need help to apply for assistance and to cut consumption with some simple energy-saving tips.

Resources: Duke Energy offers financial assistance for low-income individuals and families to cover home energy bills regardless of their heating source. The funds are distributed by the State of North Carolina, which works with social service agencies to distribute funds, based on need. To learn more, visit http://www.duke-energy.com/community/energy-assistance.asp.

For information about the federally-funded, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), visit http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dss/energy/index.htm.