Tagged: Electricity Rates

Duke Energy reported modest earnings for 2012 of about $3 per share – but the number would have been much lower if Duke hadn't raised electric rates in the Carolinas by 7 percent last year. WFAE's Julie Rose reports on this classic case of conflicting interests – where pain for ratepayers means profit for investors:

Duke Energy wants to raise rates again on its North Carolina customers – this time by nearly 12 percent for residential users.  WFAE's Julie Rose reports on the company's latest request to state regulators.

We knew this rate hike request was coming, but we didn't know how large it would be. Last time around, Duke asked to raise residential rates by 17 percent but settled for just over 7 percent when it finally took effect a year ago.  Now Duke Energy is proposing another 11.8 percent increase for residential customers.

The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear a case Tuesday claiming Duke Energy's latest rate hike is harmful to customers and should not have been granted. Attorney General Roy Cooper hopes the high court will strike down Duke's rate hike and change the way future increases are approved by regulators. 

Duke Energy originally asked for permission to raise rates for the average household by 17%, but regulators agreed to just 7%.

Even at that lower rate, Duke managed to lock in a 10.5% profit for shareholders, which is where Attorney General Roy Cooper takes issue.

The cost to build Duke’s coal-fired plant in Edwardsport, Indiana was already about a billion dollars over original estimates.

Now the testing of new technology to burn coal more cleanly at the plant is taking longer than expected and adding $180 million to the cost.

Duke spokeswoman Angeline Protogere says this should be the last expensive delay for the Edwardsport plant.

“We believe this is a realistic cost for the project,” says Protogere.