Dominion Energy Wants to Raise Your Electric Bill by $20 a Month.
Most of the Coverage Is Missing the Point.
If you’re a Dominion Energy customer in the Columbia area (and if you’re reading this, you probably are), you’ve likely heard that your electric bill could be going up. Again.
In January, Dominion filed a request with the South Carolina Public Service Commission to raise rates by 12.67% for residential customers. On paper, that works out to roughly $20 more per month on a typical household bill. For a family already paying $150–$170 a month for electricity in the summer, that’s not nothing. But the thing most of the news coverage isn’t telling you: Dominion rarely gets what they ask for. And how this plays out over the next few months matters a lot more than the headline number.
I wanted to break this down, not as a sales pitch, but because I’m a Dominion customer too, and I think most people deserve a clearer picture of what’s happening with their power bill.
What Dominion Is Asking For (and Why)
The total request is for $322 million in additional revenue across all customer classes: residential, commercial, and industrial. Residential customers would carry the heaviest burden. At a 12.67% rate increase, homeowners face a steeper hike than commercial customers (5.9%) or industrial users (14.9% on a much smaller customer base). When you factor in that Dominion serves over 820,000 customers, and the vast majority of those are residential accounts, homeowners are funding the lion’s share of that $322 million.
So where is that money going? Dominion points to three things.
- First, roughly $1.4 billion invested in the electric system since 2023. That breaks down to over $500 million in generation upgrades, another $500 million in distribution (the poles, wires, and transformers that get power to your house), and $269 million in transmission work.
- Second, Hurricane Helene. Dominion spent about $120 million responding to the September 2024 storm, the largest restoration effort in the company’s history. Nearly 400,000 Dominion customers went dark, some for over a week. That $120 million didn’t come from nowhere, and Dominion is folding the cost into this rate request.
- Third, rising operating costs across the board: property taxes (Dominion now pays $254 million a year in state and county taxes), higher prices for copper and aluminum, and 23,000 new customers added to the system since 2023, who need infrastructure to serve.
That’s the utility business model in a nutshell. The company spends money on the system, then asks regulators for permission to pass those costs along to customers. The regulators’ job is to decide how much of that ask is justified. And that’s where it gets interesting.
The Part Most People Miss:
Dominion Never Gets the Full Amount
In 2024, Dominion filed a rate case asking for $303 million. After months of hearings, negotiations, and pushback from the Office of Regulatory Staff and consumer advocates, they settled for $219 million, about 28% less than what they originally requested. The residential bill impact came out to roughly $15 a month before fuel cost offsets brought the effective increase closer to 1%.
Go back further. In 2020, Dominion asked for a 7.7% increase. They ended up settling for a residential increase of $1.81 per month. That’s a reduction of over 80% from the original ask.
The pattern is consistent: Dominion files high, expects to negotiate down, and the final number lands significantly below the headline. It’s not all that different from listing a house at $350,000 knowing you’ll take $310,000. The opening number isn’t the closing number. That doesn’t mean the final increase will be painless. It almost certainly won’t be zero. But if history is any guide, $20 a month is the ceiling, not the floor. The real number will be decided through hearings over the next few months.
How This Gets Decided
(and How You Can Weigh In)
The Public Service Commission has a statutory deadline of July 2, 2026, to make a decision. Between now and then, there’s a full schedule of public hearings where customers can testify.
The closest one to us in the Midlands is on May 12 in Columbia at the PSC Hearing Room. That one runs from 10 AM to noon and again from 5 to 9 PM, with both in-person and virtual options. There are also hearings in North Charleston (March 31), Bluffton (April 2), and Aiken (April 9 and April 28).
If you want to speak at a hearing, you need to preregister. You can email communications@psc.sc.gov or call 803-896-4120. Testimony is limited to three minutes per person, and you can only testify at one hearing. You can also file a formal Letter of Protest through the PSC website at psc.sc.gov without attending in person.
These hearings do influence the outcome. The PSC added an extra Aiken hearing in February specifically because of the volume of public interest. Whether you’re in favor, opposed, or somewhere in the middle, it’s worth showing up. The people who testify shape the conversation that leads to the final number.
Why South Carolina Bills Are Already High
(Even With Below-Average Rates)
This part catches a lot of people off guard. South Carolina’s electricity rate is below the national average. We pay somewhere around 14–15 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to the national average of about 17–18 cents. On paper, that’s a good deal.
But South Carolina households use roughly 24% more electricity than the national average. The humidity, the summers that start in May and end in October, and a housing stock full of older homes without great insulation all drive consumption up. Our rates are low, but our bills are high. The average Dominion customer already pays about $157 a month.
That’s the context this rate increase lands in. Even if the final number comes in well below $20, it’s stacking on top of bills that are already elevated compared to most of the country. A 12.67% increase on a $157 bill hits differently than the same percentage on a $120 bill.
What You Can Do Right Now
You don’t have to wait for the PSC to decide. There are a few things worth doing now, regardless of where the rate case lands.
Check if you're on the right rate plan.
Dominion’s “You Shift/You Save” time-of-use plan charges less during off-peak hours and even less during the “super off-peak” window from 1–5 AM. If you have an EV charger, electric water heater, or pool pump that can run overnight, shifting that usage could offset a chunk of any rate increase.
Look into Dominion's rebate programs.
They offer $400–$500 back on qualifying heat pumps and central AC systems, up to $300 for ductwork improvements, and $50 for recycling an old refrigerator or freezer. Free home energy audits are available through their Home Energy Check-up program. Most people don’t know these exist.
Take advantage of federal and state incentives while they last.
The 30% federal tax credit for heat pumps, insulation, and windows runs through 2034. South Carolina’s new HOMES and HEAR rebate programs, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, are rolling out in 2026 with up to $16,000 for whole-home energy upgrades for income-qualifying households. That’s real money that can lower your bill permanently, regardless of what happens with this rate case.
Attend a hearing or file a protest.
You don’t need to be an energy policy expert. Telling the Commission how your bill affects your household budget is exactly the kind of testimony that moves the needle. Three minutes of your time could help shape where that final number lands.
When to DIY vs. When to Call a Licensed Electrician
Upgrading light bulbs is certainly a DIY-friendly task – anyone can change a bulb or plug in a smart lamp module. But how do you know when a project is over your head (literally)?
DIY-Friendly Upgrades: Swapping regular bulbs for LED bulbs, installing smart bulbs, and plugging in smart plugs or screw-in adapters are all safe and easy for homeowners. Even sticking LED tape lights under cabinets with adhesive or changing a lampshade is fair game. If you’re handy and cautious, you might replace simple fixtures like wall sconces or ceiling lights, as long as you turn off the power at the breaker and follow the installation instructions carefully. Many light fixtures come with clear wiring diagrams. Replacing a light switch with a like-for-like standard switch or dimmer can also be DIY if you have basic electrical knowledge – again, ensure power is off and use a voltage tester. There are plenty of tutorial videos on how to wire a single-pole switch or install a screw-in motion sensor in place of a bulb.
However, know your limits. Here are times to bring in a licensed electrician for your lighting upgrades:
The Bigger Picture
I’m not going to pretend I’m neutral on rising electricity costs. I pay them too, and so does every customer I work with. Dominion inherited an aging system when they acquired SCE&G after the V.C. Summer mess. Upgrading infrastructure costs money. Storms are getting worse. Demand is growing. Some increase is probably inevitable.
The real question is whether this increase, at this amount, is justified. And that’s not for Dominion or for me to decide. It’s for the Public Service Commission, informed by the people who show up to those hearings and file those Letters of Protest.
If you want to stay informed, Dominion has a dedicated rate case page at dominionenergy.com/scratereview, and the PSC docket (2025-325-E) is publicly available. I’ll update this post if there are significant developments before the July deadline.
In the meantime, keep your thermostat reasonable, check those rebates, and if you’ve been putting off that energy audit, now’s probably the time.
