Duke Energy has filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to approve a rate hike that would increase electric bills by about $8 per month for residential customers.
The company says the increase would apply to the distribution portion of electric bills. The rate hike must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
“So the overall impact would be about 4.5% increase to our residential customers and 3% for a non-residential customer,” said Matt Martin, a Duke Energy spokesperson.
Duke Energy filed for the increase to electric distribution charges at the end of March. The company has not raised distribution rates since 2021.
The increase would be about $8 a month for a customer who uses 1,000 kilowatts of energy, which Duke Energy says is about average.
“Since then, we’ve done a number of things to really modernize our infrastructure and make a lot of capital investments, so really those require us to come back in for a rate adjustment,” Martin said.
The distribution portion of a Duke Energy bill makes up about 20 to 35% of the total, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. It is the local system that delivers electricity directly to homes and businesses.
“We know any type of rate adjustment is something that our customers will be impacted by and we take that really seriously…. as affordable as possible,” Martin said.
If approved, the rate hike will take effect next May. Until a decision is made, the company says rates will not change.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Duke Energy requests $8 monthly electric rate increase in Ohio
Reporting by Brittany Harry, Fox19 / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
