Duke customers speak against rate hike in hearing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dozens of Duke customers stood outside the Mecklenburg County Courthouse to speak against a proposed rate hike.

“We need to show that the people of North Carolina do not support this. I haven’t talked to a single person who wants their rate increased,” Jeffery Shen, Duke Energy Customer said.

Some customers across North Carolina could see an increase over up to 18% over two years which would mean the average customer would pay about $24 more monthly.

“We’re just asking them to understand that families are struggling. Families shouldn’t have to choose between having the lights on and being able to have food on the table,” Jennifer Roberts, Duke Energy Customer and Former Charlotte Mayor said.

More than 25 people signed up to speak in front of the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The board regulates the rates and services of utility companies. They are appointed by state legislators. Speakers at the Charlotte hearing overwhelming opposed raising the rates.

“We’re telling the North Carolina Utilities Commission that they have to vote against this,” Shen said. “But we know like fundamentally, the problem is that we live in a system where we don’t have control over our utilities.”

Duke says they’re raising rates to build infrastructure to meet the growing demands across the state.

“We depend on investors for the upfront costs for these very expensive upgrades and modernization and meeting the growing needs of our customers,” Caroline Fountain, Duke Energy Spokeswoman said.

Duke says they are seeing the same rising costs customers are dealing with.

“What we’re seeing over the past several years is that cost for things that are needed to make our grid reliable, grid components and materials, those prices, some components even doubling in price in the last five years,” Fountain said.

Some customers speculate the increased need for larger grids is driven by the increase in data centers across the state.

“Data centers are less than 1% of our current maximum load for need of electricity,” Fountain said. “This request is essentially helping fund is the growing need for, you know, residential customers, for small business customers, for all of our customers, to make sure that we are able to keep our lights on.”

Customers we spoke to say they would like to see duke explore other renewable energy options.

“We know that their raw supply of gas is more expensive, but sunshine is free. They could be implementing more wind and solar. You know, energy from heaven,” Roberts said.

NC Utility Commission will host a few more hearings across the state to continue gathering evidence for the rate increase application. If you can’t attend, you can submit comments here.

A decision on the rate hike is expected before the end of the year. If approved, the rates would go into effect for 2027 and 2028.