Duke Energy Ohio seeks $55M rate increase to address grid and service improvements

In a filing with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio last week, Duke Energy Ohio requested an approximately $55 million increase to its electric distribution rates to support continued rollout of an optimized grid, smart meters and a series of new residential customer options.

Despite the $55 million price tag, for the average residential customer using 1,000 kW-hours per month this would amount to an increase of less than 15 cents per day, with more varying bill impacts for nonresidential customers.

A big part of the company’s current investment push involves smart meters, which will allow customers to view more detailed information about their personal energy use, access usage alerts and outage notifications, as well as acquire new more customized billing options. This is being pursued in parallel with efforts in southwest Ohio to create a grid capable of automatically isolating issues and rerouting power accordingly, giving customers more power over their electricity use in general, while reducing frequency and duration of power outages at large.

“We’re working hard every day to keep rates reasonable as we continue making strategic, data-driven investments to improve reliability and protect our system against cyber and physical threats,” Amy Spiller, president of Duke Energy Ohio/Kentucky, said. “And our customers are benefiting from high reliability, better service and more control over their energy use as a result of our ongoing improvements and grid investments.”

While upgrading the grid, however, Duke Energy Ohio also took this filing as an opportunity to suggest new customer benefits, including a no-fee payment option for residential customers who pay monthly utility bills by credit cards, debit cards or electronic checks. That would eliminate a $1.50 per-transaction fee currently levied on these methods. Another includes a time-of-use rate option for residential customers that would allow greater energy cost and use control through internet-enabled thermostats, electric vehicles and more. Lower bills would be provided for changes that result in use during on-peak and discount time periods.

The company has also proposed changes to lighting tariffs as it considers future upgrades toward more efficient fixtures.