Electric rates for Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) customers would increase in 2024 and 2026 resulting in 17.5% (residential) and 11.9% (general service) higher rates if approved by the SC Public Service Commission (PSC). DEC has approximately 658,000 customers in South Carolina. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce has filed to intervene in this PSC proceeding. The Law Office of Nicholas G. Callas P.A. is representing the Small Business Chamber. This will be the 15 th time since 2002 that the Small Business Chamber or its President, Frank Knapp Jr., has been a party in a PSC hearing, 10 of which were on rate increases. The results have yielded significant savings for small businesses, proposed rate hikes on small businesses have been decreased by up to 85%. “We see numerous problems with Duke Energy Carolinas’ filing for this dramatic increase in electric rates,” said Frank Knapp Jr., President and CEO of the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Duke wants South Carolina customers to pay for expenses resulting from actions of the North Carolina legislature, high-cost improvements to the company’s grid without saying how customers will benefit, a new gold-plated company headquarters in Charlotte that has no value for South Carolina customers, and a profit margin higher than North Carolinians customers are paying.”
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