Dominion Energy‘s monthly bills are headed lower — about 3% for a benchmark residential customer bill — as prices of the fuel it burns to spin its electricity generators declines.
The electric monopoly is asking the State Corporation Commission to approve a drop in its pass-along for fuel costs, with that savings partly offset by an increase to cover higher costs for its transmission lines.
Combined, these will have the effect of cutting a $138 monthly bill for 1,000 kilowatt-hours by $4.04, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis found.
In addition to the decline the company projects, which is based on market prices for future delivery of natural gas — the main fossil fuel it uses — as well as oil, coal and nuclear fuel, the company is passing on a $266 million credit because its actual costs of fuel from the current year are running below what it had projected.
Together, the projection and the credit will reduce the fuel factor charge to 2.073 cents per kilowatt-hour from 2.8587 cents. The effect of this would be to reduce a 1,000-kilowatt-hour bill by $7.85.
“This will deliver significant savings for our customers and underscores our ongoing commitment to keeping our rates affordable,” said spokesman Aaron Ruby.
Natural gas prices, which spiked in 2022, began easing last summer and have been trading about halfway between the levels seen for the decade before the 2022 spike, according to data compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Partly offsetting that price break on fuel, however, is Dominion’s request that the SCC approve an increase in its charges for its high-voltage network of transmission lines.
This reflects an increased cost for connecting with the PJM Interconnection grid, which moves electricity over a 13-state network, stretching from New Jersey west to Illinois and south to North Carolina.
In addition, the transmission charge reflects current costs of Dominion’s multiyear, multi-billiondollar modernization for its own transmission lines and safety equipment, which will amount to nearly $1.4 billion during 2024, according to Michael J. Batta, Dominion’s director for electric transmission, market and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission policy.
Covering those PJM expenses and that investment would add $3.81 to a 1,000-kilowatt-hour bill, said C. Alan Givens, Dominion manager for regulation rate design.
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An aerial photo shows cooling ponds along Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station on the shores of Lake Anna in Mineral on Aug. 15, 2018. Dominion’s push to extend the life of its two half-century old nuclear power stations is on target with its $1.2 billion phase 1 budget and schedule.