Press Release
July 12, 2024
Settlement reached in Dominion Energy rate case
Rate hike proposed for small business reduced by over 60%
Columbia, SC—A settlement has been reached between Dominion Energy South Carolina (DESC), the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) and other intervening parties to the request for a rate increase filed earlier this year by DESC.
DESC had asked for an increase in revenue of $302.8 million in their filing. The settlement would lower that increase to $219.4 million, a reduction of 27.5%.
At the time of the filing, DESC had sought to raise rates on small businesses by over 15%. However, with the decrease in revenue agreed to in the settlement plus DESC providing a one-time $7.5 million bill credit for small business and residential customers, small businesses are looking at a rate increase of 5.06% in the first year. In the second year there would be an additional less than one percent increase (totaling 5.8%) compared to rates at the time of the original filing.
“Exactly how much of a rate difference that will result from this settlement, if approved by the Public Service Commission, will also depend on changes in fuel costs,” said Frank Knapp Jr., President and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Knapp is a party in this rate case as he is a residential and commercial customer of DESC. Mr. Knapp or the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce have intervened in utility rate cases 11 times in the past 24 years.
“I want to thank ORS and all the parties for their diligent work to arrive at a fair settlement,” said Knapp. “Utility rate cases are very complicated and require great examination of the costs the utilities seek to recover. As reflected in the 27.5% reduction in requested new revenue by DESC, the ratepayers benefit when unallowable costs are identified and eliminated, primarily from the hard work of ORS.”
The parties to this DESC rate case in addition to Mr. Knapp were the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff, the S.C Department of Consumer Affairs, South Carolina Energy Users Committee, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Coastal Conservation League, CMC Steel, Walmart, the U.S. Department of Defense and all other federal executive agencies.
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