Apr. 29—HENDERSON — Duke customers might have noticed a new line item on their power bill — "summary of rider adjustments."

Though, those charges aren't new at all — they're only marked separately after changes in the way Duke formats its bills early this year or late last year, depending on the service region. Previously, they were included in the per-kilowatt hour energy rate.

Logan Kureczka, the company's lead communications manager, offered some insight into them.

Riders are charges outside of standard base rates that allows a utility to recoup costs of certain programs, credits and purchases or advance state energy policy goals, said Kureczka.

To elaborate, customers pay a fraction of the cost of bringing more solar energy to the grid or cost-saving programs like the Storm Recovery Charge, which recoups storm damage repair costs through bonds, "saving customers millions," said the manager. Riders also help cover the fluctuating cost of fuel, which the company uses in its power plants.

The exact value of those charges depends on the region the customer lives in. Both Carolinas and Progress service Vance County — the fuel cost rider is around 1.26 cents per kilowatt hour in the former and 1.19 in the latter, for example.

That means those with higher energy usage will see higher rider costs.

Every utility company includes rider charges into their bills. The North Carolina Utilities Commission approves them.

As for why, Duke "is a regulated public utility and in many instances required to pay for specific needs — often state-mandated obligations to advance renewable energy or other such policy goals," said Kureczka.

Riders are meant to offer better service to customers.

Recently, the company raised rates for both of its North Carolinian service regions — in Carolinas, the average customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will be paying $18 more by Jan. 1, 2026. Progress customers will be paying a little more than $17 more by October 2025.

"A large part of our recent rate increase was from the annual adjustment for fuel, primarily driven by an under-collection in fuel rates throughout 2022, when Duke Energy Carolinas customers paid $1 billion less than their actual cost of fuel for the year," said Kureczka.

Under state law, the company couldn't adjust rates during the billing period to address that underpayment, so the following year's rates recouped that shortfall, she said. Rates fell in eight out of the ten years between 2012-21.

"Our rates reflect actual fuel costs — customers pay what we pay — and Duke Energy Carolinas customers will again benefit from falling gas prices during the next annual adjustment," Kureczka said. "Duke Energy Progress customers had less of an underpayment."