NORTH CAROLINA, USA — Last week, Randolph Electric Membership Cooperation confirmed FEMA would reimburse the co-op for $1.15 million for their spending on Hurricane Florence.
Randolph Electric says that covers a big chunk of the $1.7 million they spent in Randolph, Moore, Montgomery, Chatham and Alamance counties when the storm hit in September 2018. They say the state of North Carolina will also chip in to reimburse $350,000.
But Duke Energy, one of the main power providers in the Triad, is not eligible for reimbursements like that. Duke Energy is a corporation, while Randolph Electric is a not-for-profit co-op. That not-for-profit co-op designation makes them eligible for FEMA and state funding.
In January, Duke Energy put in a request to the North Carolina Utilities Commission seeking approval for rate hikes to help cover the cost of several damaging storms in 2018.
Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael and December's winter storm knocked out power to tens of thousands of people and brought havoc to a lot of the company's infrastructure throughout the state. Duke Energy estimates it spent $761 million in work and repairs following the three weather events.
It's not clear how much the rate hike would be if it's approved by the Utilities Commission, but Duke Energy is hoping to recover $570 million from North Carolina customers through that rate increase.
Randolph Electric says there's a strict application to fill out for FEMA aid and certain criteria has to be met. Without the aid from the federal government and the state, the co-op says the hit from the storm would likely have a negative impact on their members' bills.
