Duke Energy is asking regulators to let its western North Carolina subsidiary raise household electricity bills by nearly 17 percent and charge consumers billions of dollars for a nuclear plant it will not build and also to clean up coal ash pits.The Charlotte-based utility made the requests Friday to the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
The company tells regulators it's decided not to complete its proposed Lee plant in Cherokee County, South Carolina. But its subsidiary Duke Energy Carolinas wants to charge North Carolina consumers nearly $640 million for planning and other costs.
The subsidiary's typical residential customer could see their monthly power bill rise by nearly $19 a month to almost $123.
The utility also wants to collect nearly $1.7 billion in coal ash costs over five years.