Duke Energy to let low-income assistance program expire, advocates show

Duke Energy plans to let its Customer Assistance Program expire in December, when its three-year pilot ends. The program gives a monthly bill credit to Duke's lowest-income customers in North Carolina and has also made some participants eligible for weatherization upgrades, home improvements like insulation and air sealing that cut energy use and lower bills. Advocacy groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center say letting it lapse would hit as many as 46,000 low-income Duke Energy Carolinas customers and 41,000 Duke Energy Progress customers, raising their bills by about $42 a month this winter, on top of any separate rate increases Duke gets approved.

The expiration is part of a larger rate case before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, where Duke is also asking for a 9.8 percent return on equity, the profit rate it earns for shareholders. Advocacy groups argue that rate is too high and are pushing for 9.1 percent instead, which they say would save customers roughly $140 million overall. Duke has offered $20 million in shareholder funds as a replacement measure, but advocates say that is far smaller in scale and reach than the existing ratepayer-funded program.

If you live in North Carolina and get electricity from Duke Energy Carolinas or Duke Energy Progress, this case could affect both your rates and whether low-income bill assistance and weatherization help remain available after this year. The utilities commission has not yet ruled.