Brace yourself: all those commercials you've been hearing lately about electric rate hikes (and urging you to buy windows, or insulation, or whatever) are true.
Just as the first heat wave of 2023 is hitting, Duke Energy is hitting Ohio homeowners with a significant rate hike.
As of June 1st, Duke Energy is raising its generation fee from $0.06 per kilowatt hour to $0.10.
Energy Professionals.com, a utility comparison website, explains that is a 58% increase in the generation fee portion of your bill.
Luckily the delivery portion of your bill, is not changing at this time.
It's not as high as the 100 percent hikes in the Akron, Youngstown, and Toledo areas, according to Energy Professionals, but it will still be noticeable.
Latrice Bess worries about her next bill.
"With all this heat we have, you have to keep your air conditioner running," she said.
Worse, it comes on top of her rising grocery bills.
"Inflation is beating us up out here," she said.
Why rates are going up again
The reason for the hike, which has been approved by the Ohio Public Utilities Commission:
- High demand from longer summer heat waves.
- More homes and businesses that need to cool their buildings.
- The rising price of natural gas, which produces most electricity.
Duke Energy's Casey Kroger told us last summer that the utility has to pay higher wholesale rates whenever heat -- and electric demand -- jump.
"We expect increased prices to sustain throughout the the summer," she said.
But there's no need to panic.
Your local hardware store should have some inexpensive things you can buy to lower your bill.
Ace hardware's Jon Doucleff suggests buying a "smart" furnace filter that now alerts you when yours is getting clogged, and it is time to change it.
"It's bluetooth enabled and it sends a signal to your smartphone to tell you it's time to change your filter," he said.
In addition, he suggests:
- Buy several fans, which make you feel cooler for just pennies.
- Then turn up the thermostat.
- Seal leaks around windows and doors.
- Close the blinds when the sun is shining in.
- Swap out for energy saving LED bulbs
- Don't run the oven on hot days.
As for the Duke rate hike, it's expected to add about $30 dollars to an average home's bill, according to the PUCO.
But you may be able to lower it by choosing a different provider at the PUCO's Apples to Apple's comparison site, at EnergyChoice.Ohio.gov. (Make sure the site you visit ends in .gov.
That way you don't waste your money.
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