06/28/2012

Progress Energy Carolinas customer bills to drop 2.2 percent July 1

FLORENCE, S.C. (June 28, 2012) - The Public Service Commission of South Carolina (SCPSC) has approved adjustments to retail rates that will result in a 2.2 percent reduction in rates for Progress Energy residential customers.

The new rates, which take effect July 1, will lower the monthly price of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity for a residential customer to $101.57 from the current $103.85. The change includes a reduction in the charge for fuels used in power generation, and a slight increase in the portion used to fund expanded energy-efficiency and demand-side management programs.

The net impact of the changes is a decrease of 2.2 percent for residential customers. Rates for commercial customers will decrease, on average, 3.5 percent; rates for industrial customers will decrease about 5 percent.

The retail price has decreased three of the last four years. Progress Energy Carolinas continues to work to mitigate costs by negotiating the lowest possible cost for fuels on behalf of customers.

The fuel portion of the company's rates is adjusted annually by the PSC to reflect the actual cost of fuel the utility uses to produce electricity to meet customer demand. By law, Progress Energy does not make a profit from the fuel charge. The company also files annually to recover the costs of implementing programs designed to help reduce energy consumption and save customers money on their energy bills.

Progress Energy has not sought an increase in the other major component of rates, the base rate, since 1988. The company expects to file a general rate case in South Carolina in 2013.

Progress Energy maintains a diverse mix of power plant resources - including nuclear, coal, natural gas, oil, hydroelectric energy and renewable energy, including solar and biofuels - to maintain a reliable supply of electricity for the utility's customers while keeping fuel expenses as low as possible.

Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with 23,000 megawatts of generation capacity and approximately $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve about 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. Progress Energy celebrated a century of service in 2008.www.progress-energy.com.
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