A love-hate relationship with Duke Energy

I, as many, have a love-hate relationship with utilities, especially monopolies such as Duke Energy, the subject of Ned Barnett’s recent Sunday column “Proposed pipeline points the wrong way on energy” (Jan. 21).

On the love side, I thank Duke when in the middle of the night I glance at the digital clock next to my bed. If it’s not blinking, I’m reassured the electricity Duke Energy supplies to my home is on and service has not been interrupted.

When I flip on a light switch and the bulb works, or when I turn on the ceiling fan or the oven or when I open the refrigerator and the light is on, I’m certain the public utility monopoly which charges me abundantly for electrical power is doing its job.

The same goes when the television is working, my cell phone is charging, the computer I’m using to write this opinion piece is on, and my home’s exterior lights when darkness falls come on. Thank goodness for Duke Energy.

However, on the hate side of love-hate, when the invoice arrives each month disgust for the power company rears its ugly head, even though we’ve used Duke Energy’s product just about any time and anyway we desire during a 30-day period.

We openly voice objection when this monopoly utility asks for rate increases, even the slightest amount, especially when we learn 2018 will be the 92nd consecutive year Duke Energy will pay its shareholders a dividend, which will be $0.92 per share per quarter.

We never see Duke Energy paying a dividend to customers who provide the money it needs to operate, pay salaries and grow. We may own Duke Energy stock in a 401K or an IRA, but we prefer lower rates than the dividend, about $3.68 a share for all of 2018. Duke Energy stock is trading around $78 a share, down about $14 from its 52 week high of last November. When the stock is down, it’s a good time to buy Duke Energy.

We loathe Duke Energy when it sends a crew to dig up the right of way on our well-manicured lawns to replace feeder lines while the company takes no responsibility to adequately restore the lawn or offer compensation for cutting a fiber or coaxial line that provides entertainment, telephone and internet to our homes. That happened to me.

We love Duke Energy to provide electricity on a regular basis, but we hate how it can bully its way with rate increases to cover expansion instead of asking its shareholders to do without the dividend.

Which brings me to the point of this opinion piece.

When I first heard of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline which will bring natural gas to eastern North Carolina and hopefully prosperity to businesses throughout the region, I was all for it. I like business growth and feel that access to more energy, especially natural gas, is just what rural areas of the eastern part of our state need.

Then I read Barnett’s column. Now, I’m slightly opposed to the pipeline, but not for the base reason Barnett outlines, which is to force Duke Energy and others to develop more renewable energy sources instead of using natural gas.

I would like to see more solar power and more wind turbines. I would like to see businesses and regular citizens to be able to generate renewable source power without being bullied by Duke Energy, which wants to control creation of power in its footprint. Just the other day, Duke Energy announced a program to benefit those who install solar panels and generate electricity with real dollars. Great, but, to pay for the benefits, Duke will ask all customers to contribute to the fund with increased rates. Another reason to hate Duke Energy.

I could be swayed to be for the pipeline if landowners will be adequately compensated for the land through which it will run, if rates are not raised to build the pipeline or they are raised after it is built and the pipeline fails to operate on sustainable financial levels. If the latter happens, as Jim Warren of NC WARN notes in Barnett’s column, ratepayers will have to pick up the tab and supplement Duke Energy’s natural gas initiative.

That wouldn’t be fair and would be all the more reason to hate Duke Energy. There will be little love unless the shareholders pay the freight before, during and after the pipeline is built. Monopoly utilities which are allowed rate increases for doing poorly are not good for the public.

Jim Pomeranz is a freelance writer from Cary NC.

This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 10:30 AM with the headline "A love-hate relationship with Duke Energy."