Beginning in January, Duke Energy will implement changes to customer bills in South Carolina following approval from the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC). These changes reflect investments made to recover from Hurricane Helene, strengthen the grid against storms and outages, maintain and upgrade power plants, and serve a growing customer base.
Tim Pearson, Duke Energy’s South Carolina president, said: “Duke Energy is committed to meeting the expectations our customers have around reliability, responsiveness and value – striking the right balance that delivers these at the lowest possible cost for customers. That means investing in what matters, delivering results efficiently, and remaining transparent about what customers are paying for and why.”
The PSCSC approved updates for Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) and Duke Energy Progress (DEP), which are the company’s two utilities operating in the state.
To address costs related to Hurricane Helene, the PSCSC approved a securitization plan. This involves selling low-interest, long-term bonds to generate savings while recovering large expenses. The plan is expected to save DEC customers more than $140 million on Helene-related expenses. Beginning in January, a typical residential DEC customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month will see a new storm charge reflecting a 3.2% increase ($4.58), which represents 20% savings over traditional recovery methods.
Pearson commented: “We appreciate the legislature providing tools like securitization to address extreme storm costs as we continue to pursue ways to reduce these impacts on customer bills.”
Duke Energy has invested in grid upgrades aimed at improving reliability and resilience against storms. Over the past two years, it has nearly tripled the number of South Carolina customers served by self-healing technology; now more than 70% benefit from this automated power restoration tool.
“Meeting the needs of our customers means prioritizing investments that enhance the grid while also minimizing the cost impact for customers,” Pearson said. “For example, Duke Energy’s nuclear units are expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars of annual tax credits in the coming years – savings that will be passed to our customers beginning in 2026.”
Comprehensive agreements between stakeholders were recently approved by regulators so that tax credits can be applied directly to bills along with shareholder-funded contributions for residential customers. These measures aim to offset recent infrastructure investment impacts over two years.
For DEP residential customers using 1,000 kWh per month, monthly electric bills will rise about $11.20—from $153.82 to $165.02—starting February 1. For DEC residential customers using 1,000 kWh per month, monthly bills will increase by about $0.84—from $148.02 to $148.86—beginning March 1; this includes charges related to securitization.
DEC serves approximately 680,000 households and businesses mainly in Upstate and north central South Carolina such as Greenville and Anderson counties; DEP serves around 177,000 customers primarily in regions including Sumter and Florence counties.
If regulators approve a proposed combination of DEC and DEP utilities in 2026, it could save Carolinas’ customers over $1 billion in future costs.
Pearson added: “Customers expect us to manage our costs but they also want options… That’s why we’re helping customers lower their energy use – and lower their bills – through programs that make a measurable difference.”
Across North Carolina and South Carolina combined service areas,Duke Energy’s energy efficiency programs deliver annual savings significantly above national averages; incentives have been increased recently so more ways are available for South Carolinians seeking bill reductions.
Duke Energy Carolinas owns roughly 20,800 megawatts of capacity serving about 2.9 million electricity users across North Carolina and South Carolina; Duke Energy Progress supplies about 13,800 megawatts serving some 1.8 million users across both states as well.
Headquartered in Charlotte as one of America’s largest energy holding companies,Duke Energy provides electric service across six states with total capacity exceeding 55 gigawatts.Further information is available via its website or social media channels.
