'Every dollar matters': Attorney General Josh Stein appeals Duke Energy rate increase
Duke Energy shouldn't be allowed to raise its rates on North Carolina customers as much as it plans to, Attorney General Josh Stein said Wednesday, announcing that he's formally challenging a recently approved rate hike.
If allowed to go through, the planned increase would cause the average Duke Energy customer statewide to pay approximately $20 per month, or $240 per year, Stein said. Duke has a near-monopoly in North Carolina, providing power to almost all homes and businesses in the state.
Duke already won initial approval for the rate hike from the North Carolina Utilities Commission, in a December vote. But Stein, a Democrat who is also running for governor, has now appealed that decision.
“Every dollar matters for North Carolina families,” he wrote in a statement announcing the news. “Yet, Duke Energy’s rate increase is too high. So, I’m asking the Court to side with North Carolina’s ratepayers and to reject this rate increase.”
Bill Norton, a Duke Energy spokesman, said Wednesday that the rate increase is needed to help the company give North Carolina residents reliable service — and that it was approved properly.
"The commission's decision was issued after extensive evaluation and public input," he said. "The order enables critical grid investments that are needed to advance North Carolina's growing economy while protecting reliability nd affordability for customers."
Stein's appeal comes as North Carolinians feel the financial squeeze of other rising rates: Auto insurance went up by 4.5% this year, with another 4.5% increase coming next year. The insurance industry also wants to raise homeowners insurance rates by an average of 42% statewide, although that faces its own legal challenge from Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican. And several counties around the state — including Wake County — have recently reassessed property values upward, signaling that higher property taxes could be on the way for some.
Nationally, inflation throughout the economy spiked in 2022 but has been down in recent months. But it remains top of mind for many voters heading into this year's elections: Last week a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that inflation was the second-biggest political concern among Republicans and Democrats alike.
Stein's concerns with Duke rate increase
For the proposed increase to people's power bills, Stein's appeal claims the Utilities Commission made a number of legal and bookkeeping errors when approving Duke's rate hike.
Part of the higher rates were to help Duke pay for more than $1 million the company spent giving extra cash to workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stein's appeal says — adding that since Duke did nothing to monitor how its employees spent that money, it shouldn't now be allowed to ask its customers around the state to help recoup those funds.
Stein also alleges the commission made a number of other mistakes, or evidence-free decisions, in improperly approving Duke's request for the rate increase.
North Carolina's regulatory scheme works different than some other states: Duke is required to be governed in part by the state-run Utilities Commission.
Critics frequently accuse that commission of being little more than a rubber stamp. Its actions also came under scrutiny earlier this month in a lawsuit argued at the North Carolina Court of Appeals — over whether the commission treated solar companies and customers unfairly when approving new, pro-Duke rules that will allow the company to pay significantly less whenever it buys back power from solar customers who generate excess electricity.
In the 2024 elections Stein is one of five Democrats, including former Supreme Court Justice Mike Morgan, who are running for governor.
The governor currently appoints five of the seven members of the Utilities Commission. Republican lawmakers passed a new law last year that would eliminate two of the governor's appointments to the commission, in addition to stripping the governor's ability to name dozens of members to other state boards and commissions.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper sued, calling the law a "blatantly unconstitutional" power grab by the GOP-led legislature. Cooper has also sued over a related law, stripping way the governor's authority over the State Board of Elections and handing it to the state legislature instead. In both lawsuits, Cooper has won victories in the early stages.
