Proposed Electric Rates and Electric, Water, and Wastewater Fees and Surcharges

The proposed rates, fees, and revised Service Regulations and Charges , will be applied on bills rendered on or after May 1, 2024 and July 1, 2024.   These rates were approved during the Feb. 28, 2024 Board meeting. Updated copies of the approved rates will be posted on the rates web page when available.

About Proposed Adjustments

• Utility rates are driven by cost of supplying safe, reliable utility services.   Inflation, Supply Chain, Capital Investments, required reserves are current key factors that are driving need for rate increases.
• The main driver in electric rates are power supply costs for buying power from our wholesale provider Duke Energy Progress.  In 2020, PWC was able to reduce electric rates by 4.7%, however the increased costs now require us to make adjustments. These changes will bring rates back to where they were before the 2020 decrease. Without the rate increases, reliability (rehabilitation and replacement) projects, planning for growth and preparation for new environmental regulations will be delayed.
• All Electric providers are impacted by the same rising costs to provide electric services as PWC and neighboring providers have increased rates or announced upcoming increases.  With the proposed increases, PWC still remains among the lowest  compared to our neighboring electric providers.

The impact of the proposed adjustments:

• A customer using 1,000 kwh would have a $2.39 increase in May 2024 and $2.38 in May of 2025.
• While these increases are anticipated, the temporary Power Supply Adjustment (PSA) charged to customers since August 2023, will end in August 2024.  The PSA is $6.35 per 1000 kwh.
• Also ending in May 2025, is the Coal Ash Charge ($2 reduction for residential customers)

How rates fund reliable electric service:

• Replace aging substations and transformers.
• Replace high voltage wooden transmission poles from wood poles to steel poles that strengthens the grid against storm damage and extends the life of the poles beyond what wood style poles allow. 
• Replace aging underground electric cable and devices, improving reliability and avoiding lengthy outages caused when underground wires/systems fail.
• Add new solar generation resources that allows PWC to gain the highest value from its Duke Energy Progress contract and provide additional renewable energy to PWC’s customers.

Proposed Rates Effective May 1, 2024

Service Regulations & Charges

Proposed Rates Effective July 1, 2024

Proposed Rates Effective May 1, 2025