Dominion Energy settles on nearly 8% electricity rate hike in SC

COLUMBIA — South Carolina customers of Dominion Energy could see a 7.6% hike in their monthly electric rates — but it’s less than the 12.7% the utility was initially seeking.

Utility watchdogs and environmental groups reached a settlement Friday with the Virginia-headquartered company that, if approved by state utility regulators, would tack an estimated $12 on to residential customers’ monthly bills. That’s down from $20 proposed in January.

That would take average bills from about $157 a month to about $169 for residential customers who use 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month — considered the industry standard. This does not include potential increases for cost of fuel, which can be added to bills along the way.

The new rate would start in July, if state regulators approve.

To ease customers into the change, the utility will use $3 million raised from stockholders to buy down monthly bills for residential customers in the first year. What that means for customers’ bills between July 2026 and July 2027 was not immediately available.

An additional $1 million annually over three years will go into programs for customers facing financial hardship who need help paying their monthly bill or funding improvements to make their homes more energy efficient.

“In the face of so much uncertainty and expected cost increases, now is the time to use all the tools available to ensure families are protected from rising costs,” Jake Duncan, Vote Solar’s senior Southeast regulatory director, said in a statement. “This settlement helps offset the worst of the proposed rate increase by providing direct relief to residential customers, funding for low-income weatherization, and protecting customers’ ability to invest in solar.”

The company will present the settlement to the Public Service Commission on Tuesday. There’s no deadline for a final decision.

Dominion would earn $207 million more annually from all 820,000 customers it serves across the Lowcountry and Midlands.

That’s $115 million less than the company’s original request in January.

Utility officials say an increase will allow Dominion and its shareholders to earn profits of up to a 9.9% on investments funded by the sale of stocks. The settlement lowers that rate from 10.5% originally sought.

Since March 2024, Dominion has invested $1.4 billion into the utility’s South Carolina system.

That includes:

• $500 million spent on the lines that carry power directly to people’s homes and businesses
• $270 million spent on large transmission lines that move power around the state
• $515 million on power plants and hydropower produced at Lake Murray
• $120 million on Hurricane Helene recovery

The national average price of electricity rose faster than inflation in 2025, and government forecasters at the U.S. Energy Information Administration expect that will continue through this year. But the increases have not hit as hard in South Carolina and many other Southeastern states when compared to the West Coast and Northeast.

Santee Cooper seeks to raise electric rates more than 9% over next two years

When it comes to the country’s average residential electricity rates, South Carolina ranks 21st highest in the nation, according to the latest federal data.

Meanwhile, Dominion Energy CEO Robert Blue was the 10th highest paid across publicly traded utility companies nationwide, earning $16 million in 2025 ($16.7 million if you include pension and equity awards), the California-based Energy and Policy Institute points out.

In the Southeast, Blue’s earnings are below that of CEOs at Atlanta-headquartered Southern Company, Florida-based NextEra Energy and New Orleans-headquartered Entergy.

Duke Energy’s new CEO Harry Sideris, who took over last April, earned $13.7 million in 2025.