Days before hearing, Dominion lowers proposed rate hike, promises customer rebate
Just days before asking S.C. regulators to approve an increase in the rate their electric customers pay, Dominion Energy announced they are lowering the increase in the proposal and planning to send a rebate back to households.
The new proposal comes as part of an agreement with state regulatory agencies, consumer and environmental groups ahead of a hearing to set rates for Dominion’s South Carolina customers.
Under the new proposal, the average Dominion customer in South Carolina will see their bill increase by $12 a month per 1,000 kilowatt hours, down from the original proposed increase of $20. The change would mean an increase of 7.6% on the average customer’s bill, down from 13%.
Dominion’s proposal now also includes $6 million funded by shareholders that would go directly to power customers. Of that fund, $3 million would go towards a bill credit for residential S.C. customers this year, while another $1 million per year would go to assist low-income customers with payment assistance programs and weatherization projects for the next three years.
The proposal will still need to be approved by the S.C. Public Service Commission after a previously scheduled hearing at the commission’s Columbia headquarters on Tuesday, May 12.
If approved, the proposal would increase Dominion’s revenue by around $207 million a year — more than a third less than the initial proposal, which would have raised $322 million in revenue. The measure would increase Dominion shareholders’ returns to 9.99%, down from an initial request to the PSC for a 10.5% return.
In announcing the agreement, Dominion noted it has added 23,000 customers in the Palmetto State since 2023 and invested $1.4 billion into the state’s electric system.
“If approved by the PSC, the proposed settlements would allow (Dominion) to recover the rising costs of investments needed to provide electric service to an expanding customer base at the level of excellent operational performance customers count on every day while also listening to concerns of customers and other stakeholders,” the company said in a statement Friday.
The Southern Environmental Law Center contributed to the agreement as the representative for the Coastal Conservation League, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Vote Solar. The environmental outfit said the agreement preserved solar customers’ ability to lower their bills when generating their own solar power, and commits Dominion to evaluate issues associated with new large load users like data centers, including how to ensure the rates they pay are sufficient to protect other customers.
“With so many everyday costs rising right now, we’re glad the settlement helps mitigate some of this rate increase’s impact to customers,” attorney Kate Mixson with the Southern Environmental Law Center said in a news release Friday. Mixson said the settlement “provides critical funding to weatherize low-income customers’ homes so they can lower their bills long-term.”
If You Go
What: S.C. Public Service Commission hearing into Dominion rate increase proposal
Where: 101 Executive Center Drive #100, Columbia, SC 29210
When: 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 12, 2026
This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Days before hearing, Dominion lowers proposed rate hike, promises customer rebate."
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