Electricity price hike moving forward

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A state agency is recommending that South Carolina Electric & Gas get the first of its two requested rate hikes.

Here are details on SCE&G's two requested rate hikes from a press release:
Beginning with the first billing cycle in November
- Residential customers would see a 6.06 percent increase; the monthly electric bill of a 1,000-kwh residential customer would increase $6.53 going from $107.67 to $114.20.
- Commercial customers would see an average increase of 7.37 percent.
- Industrial customers would see an average increase of 12.05 percent.

Beginning with the first billing cycle of January 2009
- Residential customers would see a 5.72 percent increase; the monthly electric bill of a 1,000-kwh residential customer would increase $6.53 going from $114.20 to $120.73.
- Commercial customers would see an average increase of 6.86 percent.
- Industrial customers would see an average increase of 10.75 percent.

A final decision on the two rate hike will be made on October 20 at a public hearing by the Public Service Commission.

Head over to The Charleston Regional Business Journal for more on the approval process.

SCE&G has cited the soaring coast of coal as reason for the hikes. A smaller hike in natural gas prices has also been requested by the agency.

So, in my opinion, it's great news that the company has been given the go-ahead to begin prep work for a $9.4 billion pair 1,117-megawatt nuclear plants near Columbia.

The final decision on the OK of the two plants would come later this year.