Duke Energy rate hearing set for Monday

Public hearings set to begin Monday on Duke Energy's proposed rate increase will affect 1.8 million customers in North Carolina, including about 170,000 in Durham, Chapel Hill and the western Triangle.

The N.C. Utilities Commission will consider a compromise between Charlotte-based Duke and the state's consumer advocate, known as the Public Staff, to limit Duke's rate increase to 7.2 percent.

As proposed, the compromise would raise a monthly residential bill of $97 to about $104 for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

Duke's original proposal would have raised residential rates by 17.4 percent, increasing a typical household bill to $115.

The compromise with the Public Staff is not the end the dispute. The state's Attorney General has vowed to fight the 7.2 percent proposed rate increase, and hundreds of customers have written the utilities commission to deny the rate increase.

The rate hearings, which will take place in Raleigh, are expected to take several days.

Duke's rate increase will affect Duke customers only, even thogh Duke is in the middle of a proposed merger with Raleigh-based Progress Energy. If the $26 billion merger is approved by state and federal regulators, Duke and Progress have said they expect to operate their electric utilities indefinitely as independent subsidiaries, maintaining independent rates for years, if not decades, to come.

Duke has also signaled it plans to file for another rate increase next year. Progress is also likely to seek a rate increase next year.