Duke Energy rates to fall this fall

Customers of Duke Energy, the state's largest power company, will see a rate cut this fall.

Duke's requested reduction will offset the 4.3 percent rate increase for residential customers the company implemented in January.

Charlotte-based Duke is asking the N.C. Utilities Commission to cut its rate because the company has been using less fuel to generate electricity during the economic downturn. The company can adjust the fuel portion of its rate once a year.

Duke's request must still be approved by the utilities commission and would go into effect Sept. 1.

The benefit will be short-lived, however. In January, four months after the rate decrease, Duke is raising its residential rate by 3.3 percent. That increase was previously approved by regulators as part of a two-year phase-in, the first phase of which took place two months ago.

Duke has more than 160,000 customers in Durham, Chapel Hill and the western part of the Triangle.