What to know ahead of this week’s hearing on Dominion rate hike
South Carolina regulators will consider Dominion Energy’s proposed rate increase Tuesday at a hearing in Columbia, days after the utility announced a settlement with interest groups to cut its requested hike and promised customers rebates.
Here’s what Dominion customers should know before the hearing before the S.C. Public Service Commission.
Here are some key takeaways:
- On Friday, Dominion lowered its proposed rate increase from $20 to $12 per month per 1,000 kilowatt hours under a new settlement with regulators and consumer groups, reducing the percentage increase for consumers from 13% to 7.6%.
- The revised proposal includes $6 million in shareholder-funded rebates, with $3 million in bill credits for residential customers this year and $1 million annually for three years to help low-income households.
- The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 12, at the PSC’s Columbia headquarters at 101 Executive Center Drive, and the public can attend or watch live online.
- Dominion’s original request would have raised the company’s allowed rate of return by about half a percentage point and generated $322 million more in annual revenue — figures the settlement reduces to roughly $207 million and a 9.99% return.
- This year’s increase request comes after the utility spent nearly $600,000 on State House lobbying and donations in 2025 while lawmakers considered the Energy Security Act, which lets utilities seek smaller rate increases more frequently with less review.
- The rate case follows a winter spike in bills tied to January’s cold snap, with Dominion saying heating systems account for about 50% of energy costs and citing Hurricane Helene recovery and system upgrades as reasons for the increase affecting more than 820,000 residential customers.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.
.jpg)