House Democrats Introduce Bill to Help Recoup Money for Ratepayers
In February, a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that state regulators erred in approving a Duke Energy fuel rate adjustment. But with the passage of Senate Bill 266, over the Governor’s veto, the utility did not have to repay consumers. Lawmakers changed the law while the court handled the appeal, meaning that consumers were unable to access millions of dollars in potential refunds.
Rep. Terry Brown (Mecklenburg) introduced House Bill 1168: Limit Electrical Utilities Historic Fuel Cost Recovery. Rep. Robert Reives (Chatham and Randolph), Rep. Lindsey Prather (Buncombe) and Rep. Dante Pittman (Wilson and Nash) are primary co-sponsors. The bill would simply repeal the language from S266 which prevented ratepayers from receiving a refund.
“Consumers should not be bearing these costs when a unanimous panel of judges ruled that the Utilities Commission erred in their judgement,” Rep. Terry Brown said. “This bill is simple: revert the language in the statute allowing the utility to keep money that ratepayers should have recouped.”
“Life is getting more expensive for everyone and as the cost of utilities continues rising, lawmakers need to take action,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said. “This is a concrete step we can take and I challenge our colleagues across the aisle to defend why this provision made it into the original bill in the first place, knowing an appeal was ongoing.”
“I know first-hand how expensive electric bills have become, and that is one monthly cost that everyone has to bear, regardless of your income,” Rep. Lindsey Prather said. “This bill is about fairness: You don’t change the rules of the game while you’re playing it, and that is exactly what Republican leadership did with this legislation.”
“In rural North Carolina, people expect to be treated with respect. Slipping in a provision that prevents hard-working people from getting a refund on their electric bill is the opposite of that,” Rep. Dante Pittman said. “I know that people who live on a fixed income, like seniors, cannot bear these unending price increases and they sent us to Raleigh to fix these problems, not make them worse.”
