Utilities panel refuses to make Duke Energy waive fees for NC factories during pandemic

North Carolina’s Utilities Commission has denied a request that it order Duke Energy to temporarily waive fixed monthly charges affecting commercial and industrial customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The commission agreed with Charlotte-based Duke that waiving fees for hard-hit factories and other businesses could shift extra costs to other customers.

The Carolina Utility Customers Association, a manufacturers’ trade group, had sought to waive fees by both of Duke’s N.C. utilities and by Dominion Energy North Carolina, which serves the state’s northeastern corner.

CUCA argued that some industrial and commercial customers pay the utilities thousands of dollars a month in “demand charges” even if their businesses have slowed or closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Demand charges cover utilities’ fixed costs of generating and delivering energy. They’re separate from energy charges that reflect how much power is actually used each month.

Duke countered that even if those customers use little electricity, it still has to maintain the ability to deliver energy when it’s needed. Granting the petition would cost the company nearly $28 million over three months and could result in costs being shifted to other customers, Duke said in filings.

Duke said it prefers to work individually with customers to reduce financial stress, such as by granting extended payment periods.

The commission’s advisory Public Staff, which represents consumers, recommended that CUCA’s petition be rejected.

In its May 19 order denying the request, the commission said all of the utilities’ customers are under some degree of financial hardship because of the outbreak. But it said the panel has to balance the need of specific customer classes against a legal mandate to ensure “just, reasonable and fair rates” for all.

“The commission is unwilling on this record and at this time to reduce the rates of (commercial and industrial) customers in a manner that is likely to significantly reduce the electric utilities’ recovery of their fixed costs and that could create the need to shift the recovery of those costs to other customers,” the order said.

This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Utilities panel refuses to make Duke Energy waive fees for NC factories during pandemic."