- Compared to rates at time of original request in March and
offset by fuel cost reduction and other factors, settlement's rate
request would represent net 1% increase for residential customer's
electric rate
- Significant proposed customer benefits include bill credit,
additional energy efficiency funds
- No change to Dominion Energy's existing financial
guidance
CAYCE,
S.C., July 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion
Energy South Carolina, Inc. (DESC), a wholly owned subsidiary of
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D), together with other parties of
record, today submitted a comprehensive settlement agreement in
DESC's pending general electric rate case for approval by the
Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSC). The
settlement includes all parties signing on or not opposing.
The requested rate increase to base rates is the first in
nearly four years. Since 2019, DESC has added approximately
40,000 new electric customers to its system and invested
$1.6 billion in its electric system
to provide reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy to
power its customers every day.
DESC and intervening parties will present the settlement to the
PSC at a hearing scheduled to begin July 15. After a thorough
review, DESC expects the PSC to make the final decision and adjust
rates as appropriate. If approved by the PSC, the proposed
settlement would allow DESC to recover some of the rising costs of
investments needed to keep its plants running, systems reliable and
grid secure while also listening to concerns of customers and other
stakeholders.
Key components of the proposed settlement, which requires PSC
approval, provide significant customer benefits:
- Starting Sept. 1, the bill of a
typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of
electricity per month would be approximately $148 – a level that ensures residential rates
remain below the national average. Compared to rates at the time of
the original request in March and offset by the fuel cost reduction
and other factors, the settlement's rate request would represent a
net 1.0% increase for a residential customer's electric rate.
- A one-time bill credit of $7.5
million funded by shareholders would be applied this year
for residential and small general service customers.
- The Neighborhood Energy Efficiency Program budget would
increase by $3 million in shareholder
funds over five years beginning in 2025.
The proposed settlement also supports:
- An authorized return on common equity of 9.94%.
- A regulatory capital structure of 52.51% equity and 47.49%
debt.
- A revenue increase of $219
million, representing about 28% less than the original
request of $303 million in
March.
There is no change to Dominion Energy's existing financial
guidance.
Intervening parties have engaged with DESC for several months to
reach the settlement agreement. They include the South Carolina
Office of Regulatory Staff, the South Carolina Department of
Consumer Affairs, South Carolina Energy Users Committee,
Frank Knapp, Jr., Southern Alliance
for Clean Energy, Coastal Conservation League, CMC Steel, Walmart,
the U.S. Department of Defense and all other federal executive
agencies.
About Dominion Energy
More than 4.5 million customers in 13 states energize their
homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion
Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The
company is committed to providing reliable, affordable, and
increasingly clean energy every day and to achieving Net Zero
emissions by 2050. Please
visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.
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SOURCE Dominion Energy
