Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Duke Energy Rigs Rates against Small Businesses and Families (re: Apple, Google server farms)
Duke Energy Rigs Rates against Small Businesses and Families
May 1st, 2012
News Release
Contact: Jim Warren
(919) 416-5077
Jim@ncwarn.org
Legal challenge filed against expansionist business model that gives huge breaks to “No jobs” Apple and Facebook by driving up rates on small customers for years to come
DURHAM, NC – A watchdog group says Duke Energy is fueling demand for expensive new power plants by offering rock-bottom rates and other subsidies to energy gobbling data centers while shifting costs onto North Carolina’s small businesses and families – in violation of well-established case law. Following two controversial rate hikes since early 2010, and with three utility rate cases planned this year, NC WARN today called for state regulators to abolish Duke’s unfair rate system.
The group says Duke Energy is harming the state economy by causing small businesses to pay three times more per kilowatt hour, excluding fuel costs, than Apple, Google and other “server farms” being drawn into North Carolina. And they say the problem is poised to get much worse.
NC WARN today released a report called On the Backs of Families and Small Businesses: Duke Energy Carolinas Justifies New Power Plants by Giving Breaks to the World’s Richest Corporations. Attorney John Runkle filed the report as part of a petition calling for the NC Utilities Commission to conduct a rulemaking process that will “replace the unfair and outmoded” Summer Coincident Peak cost allocation method “with one that is fairer to all ratepayers.”
The watchdogs’ analysis found that Duke Energy justifies its highest rates for small businesses – and lowest rates for the biggest users – by allocating all costs related to generation of power based only on the single hottest hour of the year, when homes and small businesses are running air conditioning. No consideration is given to the high power usage year-round by the data processing and storage centers, which use up to 80,000 times more electricity than the average home.
Even worse, most big customers reduce their electric load during that hottest hour – on cue from Duke – shifting even more costs to households and small businesses, according to utility documents analyzed by NC WARN. In addition, Duke assigns millions of distribution and overhead dollars by the mere number of customers in a rate class – regardless of how much electricity the customer uses. So Apple and Google pay the same dollar amount of those costs as a retired apartment renter or small retailer.
“Duke Energy is ...
May 1st, 2012
News Release
Contact: Jim Warren
(919) 416-5077
Jim@ncwarn.org
Legal challenge filed against expansionist business model that gives huge breaks to “No jobs” Apple and Facebook by driving up rates on small customers for years to come
DURHAM, NC – A watchdog group says Duke Energy is fueling demand for expensive new power plants by offering rock-bottom rates and other subsidies to energy gobbling data centers while shifting costs onto North Carolina’s small businesses and families – in violation of well-established case law. Following two controversial rate hikes since early 2010, and with three utility rate cases planned this year, NC WARN today called for state regulators to abolish Duke’s unfair rate system.
The group says Duke Energy is harming the state economy by causing small businesses to pay three times more per kilowatt hour, excluding fuel costs, than Apple, Google and other “server farms” being drawn into North Carolina. And they say the problem is poised to get much worse.
NC WARN today released a report called On the Backs of Families and Small Businesses: Duke Energy Carolinas Justifies New Power Plants by Giving Breaks to the World’s Richest Corporations. Attorney John Runkle filed the report as part of a petition calling for the NC Utilities Commission to conduct a rulemaking process that will “replace the unfair and outmoded” Summer Coincident Peak cost allocation method “with one that is fairer to all ratepayers.”
The watchdogs’ analysis found that Duke Energy justifies its highest rates for small businesses – and lowest rates for the biggest users – by allocating all costs related to generation of power based only on the single hottest hour of the year, when homes and small businesses are running air conditioning. No consideration is given to the high power usage year-round by the data processing and storage centers, which use up to 80,000 times more electricity than the average home.
Even worse, most big customers reduce their electric load during that hottest hour – on cue from Duke – shifting even more costs to households and small businesses, according to utility documents analyzed by NC WARN. In addition, Duke assigns millions of distribution and overhead dollars by the mere number of customers in a rate class – regardless of how much electricity the customer uses. So Apple and Google pay the same dollar amount of those costs as a retired apartment renter or small retailer.
“Duke Energy is ...
More at: http://www.ncwarn.org/2012/05/duke-energy-rigs-rates-against-small-businesses-and-families/
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
