New member here from Arkansas but working on a big retail chain across the Carolinas. Duke Energy just filed for a 15.2% base rate increase starting March 1st. Anyone know what specific rate schedules are getting hit hardest? My client has about 40 locations on various commercial tariffs.
Anyone tracking the Duke Energy Carolinas 15% increase effective March 2025?
Welcome Kenneth! I've been auditing Duke Carolina accounts for 15 years. The biggest impact is on Schedule SGS (Small General Service) and Schedule LGS (Large General Service). The demand charges went up about 18% while energy charges increased around 12%. Your retail chain is probably mostly SGS unless they have big box stores.
Derek's right about the demand charge hit. I just finished auditing a grocery chain with 12 Duke locations. The new Rate Schedule SGS has a $15.89/kW demand charge vs. the old $13.45/kW. That's a killer for stores with refrigeration loads. One location went from $8,200/month to $9,650/month with no usage change.
Are you all seeing any billing errors from the rate change transition? I found three accounts where Duke applied the new rates to February usage instead of starting March 1st. Caught about $2,100 in overcharges across the three accounts.
Alice, that's exactly what to watch for during rate transitions. Duke has gotten better over the years but billing system updates still cause glitches. Always verify the effective dates match the tariff filing. Good catch on those February bills.