Your power bill could be going up in NC

Your power bill could be going up in NC

From WUNC Politics by WUNC News

April 10, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Duke Energy's proposed power bill increase in North Carolina and the implications of a Republican majority on the Utilities Commission.

Duke Energy says it needs to increase your power bill, and the fate of that request will soon be decided by a commission that recently changed to a Republican majority. The N.C. Utilities Commission has been holding a series of public hearings about Duke Energy’s plan to increase residential rates by up to 18 percent over the next two years. Duke says the rate increase is needed to keep up with higher demand for electricity and the need for a more modern grid that can handle storms with fewer outages. To learn more about what’s happening at the Utilities Commission and the energy policy landscape more broadly, WUNC's Colin Campbell spoke with state Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, and Dan Crawford, senior director of public affairs for the N.C. League of Conservation Voters.

People in this episode

Host: Colin Campbell

Guest: Jay Chaudhuri

Topics covered

  • energy policy
  • rate increase
  • public hearings
  • Duke Energy
  • utilities commission
  • Republican majority

Keywords

  • power bill
  • Duke Energy
  • N.C. Utilities Commission
  • rate increase
  • public hearings
  • energy policy
  • Republican majority

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Duke Energy, N.C. Utilities Commission, N.C. League of Conservation Voters

Places: North Carolina

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