Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina will see bills go down

Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina will see a decrease in monthly bills beginning in July as part of an annual adjustment of the actual cost of fuel used to generate electricity at its power plants.

Duke Energy Progress serves about 170,000 customers in the northeastern part of South Carolina, including Darlington, Florence and Sumter counties.

Beginning July 1, a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month will see bills decrease from the current $124.98 to $120.87, a decrease of $4.11, or 3.3 percent.

Commercial customers will see an average decrease in their bills of about 1.6 percent, and industrial customers will receive an average decrease of about 2.9 percent.

The primary reason for the overall decrease in rates is the decreasing price of natural gas.

Duke Energy Progress makes a fuel cost recovery filing annually with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC). The fuel rate is based on the projected cost of fuel used to provide electric service to the company's customers, plus a true-up of the prior year's projection. By law, the company makes no profit from the fuel component of rates.

The PSCSC reviews fuel costs and adjusts the fuel component of customer rates accordingly. The company made its annual fuel filing April 27. The PSCSC held a hearing and approved the new rates in June.

Duke Energy Progress works to actively manage its fuel contracts to keep fuel costs as low as possible for customers. Savings achieved from the joint dispatch of Duke Energy's generation fleet in the Carolinas also help to minimize the company's fuel costs.

The decrease affects the bills of all Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina. The company's other South Carolina utility - Duke Energy Carolinas - will make its annual fuel filing July 30.

More help for customers

In March, Duke Energy announced it will not disconnect any customer's service for nonpayment, in order to give customers experiencing financial hardship extra time to make payments. The company has continued to read meters and send bills.

The company is also waiving late payment fees and fees for returned payments for its millions of electric and natural gas customers across its service territories until the national state of emergency is lifted.

Customers are encouraged to pay what they can to avoid building up a large balance that will be harder to pay off later. Customers can call Duke Energy to discuss their account or available options.

Customers can also seek assistance through the Energy Neighbor Fund.

For information on what Duke Energy is doing to assist customers and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit dukeenergyupdates.com.