The Ohio Supreme Court is permitting an increase in natural gas bills for Duke Energy customers across southwest Ohio to go forward.The decision, which was handed down by the court on Friday, comes as Duke Energy officially retired its propane caverns in Cincinnati’s East End from use in 2022. This decommissioning took place a month after the company had upgraded its natural gas infrastructure to rely upon new pipelines to transport natural gas to customers throughout the region more efficiently.However, Duke Energy is now looking to recoup the $29 million cost that the company put into decommissioning the caverns, with the amount to be passed down to its approximately 450,000 customers in the region over a span of 10 years.As a result, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, a state public watchdog agency, filed an appeal before the Ohio Supreme Court in October to stop the price hike from going into effect.Now, after months of litigation, the Ohio Supreme Court is ruling in a unanimous 7-0 decision that the Ohio Public Utilities Commission is justified in permitting the price hike from Duke Energy to go forward.”Public Utilities Commission did not err in permitting utility to recover from customers through rates the costs associated with retiring its propane caverns,” wrote the justices in their decision. “Costs of retiring propane caverns recoverable by utility under R.C. 4909.15(A)(4).” On top of this, another increase in costs could also soon be coming for Duke Energy’s electric customers, after the company said that they recently upgraded their energy infrastructure to make it more resistant to power outages.To pay for this upgrade, Duke Energy has a separate planned rate hike that is currently being contested by the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel. That requested rate change, if approved, could see a rate hike as potentially high as 38% for customers’ electric bills.”This is our first electric rate case that we’ve filed since 2021,” said Duke Energy spokesperson Matt Martin last week in an interview with WLWT. “And since that time, we have made a number of investments in our electric infrastructure and the grid. For example, smart self-healing technology, which has reduced customer outages either altogether or has made them shorter.”Duke Energy, a company based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, is the primary energy supplier for hundreds of thousands of electric and natural gas customers in southwest Ohio.
The Ohio Supreme Court is permitting an increase in natural gas bills for Duke Energy customers across southwest Ohio to go forward.
The decision, which was handed down by the court on Friday, comes as Duke Energy officially retired its propane caverns in Cincinnati’s East End from use in 2022. This decommissioning took place a month after the company had upgraded its natural gas infrastructure to rely upon new pipelines to transport natural gas to customers throughout the region more efficiently.
However, Duke Energy is now looking to recoup the $29 million cost that the company put into decommissioning the caverns, with the amount to be passed down to its approximately 450,000 customers in the region over a span of 10 years.
As a result, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, a state public watchdog agency, filed an appeal before the Ohio Supreme Court in October to stop the price hike from going into effect.
Now, after months of litigation, the Ohio Supreme Court is ruling in a unanimous 7-0 decision that the Ohio Public Utilities Commission is justified in permitting the price hike from Duke Energy to go forward.
“Public Utilities Commission did not err in permitting utility to recover from customers through rates the costs associated with retiring its propane caverns,” wrote the justices in their decision. “Costs of retiring propane caverns recoverable by utility under R.C. 4909.15(A)(4).”
On top of this, another increase in costs could also soon be coming for Duke Energy’s electric customers, after the company said that they recently upgraded their energy infrastructure to make it more resistant to power outages.
To pay for this upgrade, Duke Energy has a separate planned rate hike that is currently being contested by the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel. That requested rate change, if approved, could see a rate hike as potentially high as 38% for customers’ electric bills.
“This is our first electric rate case that we’ve filed since 2021,” said Duke Energy spokesperson Matt Martin last week in an interview with WLWT. “And since that time, we have made a number of investments in our electric infrastructure and the grid. For example, smart self-healing technology, which has reduced customer outages either altogether or has made them shorter.”
Duke Energy, a company based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, is the primary energy supplier for hundreds of thousands of electric and natural gas customers in southwest Ohio.