NC WARN charged today that either Duke Energy’s accountants are grossly incompetent or the corporation has deliberately sought to improperly charge North Carolina customers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. NC WARN will press the NC Utilities Commission to penalize Duke millions of dollars for the attempted overcharges. The group will also call on the Commission to order its Public Staff not to secretly negotiate deals in future utility cases.
News coverage of the hearings:
Regulators Begin Hearings On Duke Rate Increase, WFAE
As regulators hear Duke rate case, advocacy groups cite corporate greed, News & Observer
2 from WNCN:
Duke Energy admits to more mistakes in rate hike case
Duke Energy faces accusations of overcharging customers
4 from the Charlotte Business Journal:
Group frustrated as Duke Energy rate hike hearing ends
Four agendas at play in Duke Energy’s NC rate hearing
Duke Energy witnesses defend propriety of most customer charges
NC WARN: Duke Energy should pay penalty for improper charges
4 from the Charlotte Observer:
Duke Energy defends rate charges, settlement
Duke Energy critic disputes rate charges
Duke Energy’s profit margin is questioned
Duke cites errors in rate filing
Duke Energy & State Regulators
NC WARN regularly challenges Duke Energy to make a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and energy efficiency. We intervene at the NC Utilities Commission in cases involving Duke’s rate increases and 15-year Integrated Resource Plans (IRPs). And we have repeatedly reached out directly to the corporation’s executives, seeking to collaborate with them on finding ways to avert climate catastrophe. A few examples are listed here.
Related:
- Check out the new coalition: Energy Justice NC: End the Duke Monopoly
- Duke Energy page on Energy & Policy Institute website
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Regulators Begin Hearings On Duke Rate Increase — WFAE
Regulatory hearings begin Monday afternoon at the North Carolina Utilities Commission in Raleigh for Duke Energy’s latest request for a rate increase… Turns out Duke included millions of dollars worth of expenses … that it’s not allowed to force on customers… NC Utilities Commission’s Public Staff says Duke included those items in “error.” Environmental watchdog group NC WARN will argue during this week’s hearing that it was either incompetence on Duke’s part – or outright fraud.
Final public hearing on Duke Energy rate hike held — WTVD
The public got a last chance to sound off on a deal that will allow a Duke Energy subsidiary to raise power rates Tuesday evening in Hillsborough. A little more than two dozen demonstrators didn’t let a dreary drizzle dampen their message. They held signs and chanted against the rate increase. They called a proposed rate-hike audacious at best and greedy and environmentally harmful at worst.
Protesters take on Duke Energy — Charlotte Observer
Burning the Public: Duke Energy’s Rate Secrets – Part 4 — News Release from NC WARN
Duke Energy is seeking to charge North Carolina customers up to $120 million a year to pay for laid-off employees, vacant offices and other phantom expenses. A proposed settlement in the rate case does not remedy this blatant overcharging, so NC WARN will call on state regulators to reject it when evidentiary hearings begin on July 8.
Duke Energy Rate Increase May Shrink — WFDD
Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, protestors from the mountains to the Triangle rallied outside of the Forsyth County Court House. There were drummers, Puppeteers parading a larger than life smiling bright, yellow sun with hands, and people wearing oversized heads representing Duke Energy executives.
Burning the Public, Part 3: NC WARN seeks millions in penalties for Duke Energy — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN is calling for state regulators to assess millions of dollars in damages against Duke Energy Carolinas for what the watchdog group says are “egregious and pervasive” violations in the utility’s current rate case. Economist Bill Marcus of Sacramento-based JBS Energy, Inc. [states]: “Disallowance of the expense is clearly not enough. If it was not for NC WARN, the utility could have gotten away with this flagrant abuse from the highest levels of the company for years.”
Duke Energy sought to overcharge customers by $211 million per year — News Release from NC WARN
Statement from Greenpeace, AARP NC and NC WARN. The state agency that supposedly represents North Carolina electricity customers has cut a deal with Duke Energy to settle a controversial rate hike request. The NC Utilities Commission’s Public Staff announced the deal today before even considering evidence being prepared by public interest groups, businesses and local governments – and before public hearings set for Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Hillsborough.