Progress Energy power bills going up

RALEIGH -- Progress Energy's residential customers will pay about $10 a month more starting Dec. 1.

The change, approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission Friday afternoon, will raise the typical monthly household bill by 10.2 percent to about $107. That's the effect of the rate increase on a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.

The increase pays primarily for fuel used to run the Raleigh-based electric utility's power plants. The company's chief source of fuel is coal, which spiked in cost this summer, along with natural gas and oil. In 2007, coal accounted for 50 percent of Progress' power generation in the Carolinas, and nuclear power accounted for 44 percent.

Progress had originally sought a 16.2 percent rate increase but agreed to lower the amount by spreading out the difference over several years.

The cost increase also covers chemicals used to reduce emissions of coal-burning power plants, as well as costs for renewable fuels and energy efficiency programs.

The renewables and efficiency amounts have been approved provisionally and could change.

The utilities commission will hold a public hearing Dec. 17 on the efficiency and renewables portion of the rate increase. Those increases have been provisionally approved for 74 cents and 36 cents a month, respectively. The totals show the effect of the increases on customers who use 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month.

If the commission does not approve those amounts, customer bills would be adjusted to reflect the amount regulators do end up approving.