State to Hold Upstate Hearings on Duke Energy Rate Increase

The SC Public Service Commission voted Wednesday to schedule several public hearings in advance of its deliberations on a proposed rate hike by Duke Energy.

The commission said it will schedule meetings in Spartanburg, Anderson and Columbia in addition to one already agreed to in Greenville, GSA Business reported. Dates, times, and locations will be forthcoming.

Duke Energy is seeking to raise SC residential rates by 16.3 percent, 14 percent for commercial uses, and 14.4 percent for industrial users. The proposed increases, which the commission will consider in late July, would raise an additional $221 million annually.

Duke has said it needs the money to offset investments in new energy production and infrastructure.

“As part of our ongoing fleet-modernization plan, we have recently built and put into service two new, state-of-the art power plants that will provide cleaner electricity and serve our customers reliably for decades to come,” said Clark Gillespy, Duke Energy’s South Carolina state president, in a news release.

If approved, this would be Duke’s third rate increase since 2010.