OPINION: A Duke Energy Rate Increase Would Hit Families Like Mine the Hardest

Last year, my fiancé and I were forced to live without electricity because we simply could not afford our utility bill. We had to stay with our grandmother for a week until the next pay period. No working family in America should have to live like that, in the richest nation on earth. Yet this is the reality for us and so many others in our state.

I’m originally from Jacksonville, North Carolina. However, I moved to Charlotte in 2021 and met my partner in 2023. We came out of homelessness together and, sometime later, had our first child. As a young mother, I am doing everything in my power to provide for my child. I am an IT student through a work program where I hope to begin my career in information technology.

I know what it means to work hard; I’ve worked in fast food, retail, warehouses and gas stations. I’ve always been taught that honest work is the pathway towards a good life in this country — that if you work hard enough, you will be able to sustain your family and even thrive.

But that hasn’t always been our story. My fiance and I are on a fixed income and we do have to skip bills here and there. We have had to tighten our belts to the point where we feel suffocated, especially when it comes to essential things such as groceries.

If the cost of life’s necessities weren’t so high, I would use more money to buy more food and make sure my fiancé doesn’t have to skip meals to feed our daughter. It’s scary to have the possibility of homelessness thrown in our faces again, as if we don’t matter. To know that everything we worked so hard for could be taken away with the slightest increase in bills is terrifying.

I’ve been a Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) customer for years, and we are currently paying $65 per month for power. Of that, $14 goes to DEC as profit. That may not seem like much to a large company, but for families like mine, $14 a month makes a real difference. It feels like my bill has steadily gotten more expensive over time, and now DEC wants to raise rates by 15%.

This increase would raise my bill to $85 per month, and I honestly have no idea how my family will pay for this difference. We already forgo food as parents. Is Duke Energy asking us to starve our toddler to give investors more profit? That is the most selfish and inhumane thing that a company could do.

The North Carolina Energy Policy Task Force predicts DEC rates could climb up to 60% over the next 15 years. While squeezing its customers to make over 20% in profits, DEC spends thousands of dollars on political donations, seeking to influence state lawmakers, avoid accountability and maintain its monopoly power.

Read more: Duke Energy’s Political Donations Pay Off Through Rate Hikes

I simply can’t understand why DEC needs to take home even more of our money. I’m not the only North Carolina resident going through a similar situation. It’s unfair that Duke Energy keeps adding fees and rate increases onto our bill with no clear explanation.

They keep piling more stress on top of us, even when they know the unfortunate circumstances that regular civilians like me are going through every day in the current economy.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC), the public agency that oversees utility providers like DEC, will get to weigh in on Duke Energy rate increase, and their decision matters greatly to families like mine.

The NCUC has the power to stop this rate increase and spare North Carolinians another increase. But they’re blocking people from speaking out and have added an arbitrary rule to cap the number of people who can register for public hearings.

I’m submitting a comment on the NCUC website to make sure they hear that I’m against this rate increase. To submit a comment yourself, go to ncuc.gov and under “Consumer Information,” select “Submit a Statement of Position.”

We are working so hard to build a life for ourselves, but as costs continue to rise, it feels like it’s becoming farther and farther out of reach. As parents, all we want is to give our daughter a good, stable life and that includes keeping a roof over our heads, keeping the utilities on and making sure there’s always enough food on the table for all of us.

In America, working families like mine should never have to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table. Yet that’s the impossible decision that many of us often face.

I urge any fellow North Carolina residents to join me in advocating for our financial futures. Without us, the customers, they don’t exist. Our voices matter and it’s time we make sure NCUC hears us.