Dominion wants to raise rates in SC. Here’s how much it could cost customers
South Carolinians who get their electricity through Dominion Energy could see their bills increase starting in May by an average of $6 per month.
Dominion Energy, which serves more than 780,000 customers in South Carolina including much of the Midlands, has made a request to the state’s Public Service Commission to let the utility raise its electricity rate.
If the increase is granted, residential Dominion customers will pay an average of $6.53 more per month for using 1,000 kilowatt-hours — an increase of about 5.19%, Dominion’s spokesperson Rhonda O’Banion said.
Dominion wants the Public Service Commission to approve the rate increase starting in May.
The increase is aimed at offsetting increased costs for buying and transporting fuel to make electricity, the company said.
O’Banion said higher prices of natural gas and other commodities, such as coal and oil, have impacted the company and other utilities. From 2020 to 2021, Dominion recorded a 50% increase in annual fuel costs. The company is projected to report a deficit of $142 million by the end of the year.
“Although we have taken steps to minimize this year’s fuel cost adjustment so that customers see the lowest possible impact to their bills, we must recover the costs of purchasing and transporting fuel to produce the electricity our customers rely on every day,” O’Banion said in an email to The State. “These fuel costs are a direct pass-through to customers, as Dominion Energy does not earn a profit on this portion of electric rates.”
The rate increase will have to be approved by the Public Service Commission.
A public hearing is scheduled for April 7.
Dominion is expecting the commission to approve or deny the rate increase in late April, O’Banion said.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 12:29 PM.
