PWC customers brace for yet another rate hike

FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WTVD) -- PWC customers who saw astronomical bills during the months of January and February are facing another challenge. The utility company is set to implement a new rate hike May 1.

Katrina Borges is just one of many PWC customers who are fed up with the unbelievably high utility rates. She had her bills on full display as she talked about how she manages to keep up with them all.

"Our bill January was about $500," said Borges. "Kids are expensive and then trying to pay for the house when your husbands gone a lot. You just try to figure out everything by making sure you keep the lights on is tough. We cut down in other places."

On May 1, the average household that uses a thousand kilowatts of electric energy a month should expect to see a $5 increase. Three of those dollars will cover the energy increase and the other $2 will be allocated towards the coal-ash-cleanup fees.

"As our costs increase, we purchase power from Duke Energy. We will see our costs go up over $10 million in the next few years," said PWC spokeswoman Carolyn Justice-Hinson.

The spokeswoman told ABC11 the average PWC customer uses about 1200 kwh a month. She added that rates for PWC customers have continuously gone up every year for the past 10. Customers like Katrina are left with higher bills because of it.

"I told my husband maybe we should go solar, but PWC has to approve it. It's hard when you really don't have a choice," said Borges.