Duke Energy Progress to pass fuel savings to customers through lower monthly bills

Thanks to falling fuel rates — owed in large part to tumbling natural gas prices — Duke Energy Progress has proposed a decrease to monthly fuel costs for its South Carolina customers, beginning July 1.

If approved, the summer change would bring the typical residential customer’s bills down around $4.11, as part of an annual adjustment of the actual cost of fuel used to generate Duke’s electricity. About 169,000 customers in the northeastern part of South Carolina could stand to benefit from that drop. However, the final decision on the fuel rate remains in the hands of the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC).

Typical residential customers are those using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, and under the proposal, they would experience around a 3.3 percent drop in price. Commercial customers could also see a decline of around 1.6 percent and industrial customers around 2.9 percent. The overall 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 previous year’s projection, with the understanding the company can make no profit from the fuel component of rates.

While all Duke Energy Progress customers in South Carolina would be affected if passed, Duke Energy Progress is a subsidiary of the larger Duke Energy. Duke Energy’s other South Carolina utility — Duke Energy Carolinas — will not make an annual fuel filing until July.