CP&L
Files for First Fuel Rate Increase in Eight Years
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For
the first time since 1992, Carolina Power &
Light Co. will file for an increase in the fuel
rate charged its North Carolina customers.
CP&L is asking the N.C. Utilities Commission
to approve an $80.6 million, or 3.8 percent,
increase in its fuel rate to recover an historic
fuel cost shortfall for the period ending March
31 and to meet expected fuel costs in the near
future. The increase would take effect Oct. 1.
The fuel rate is a regulated, direct pass-through
charge reflecting the utility's actual
cost of fuel used to produce
electricity. CP&L has not requested a general
rate increase since 1988 and has not requested a
fuel factor increase since 1992. In fact, the
fuel factor has decreased four times since 1992.
Electricity consumption in CP&L's North
Carolina service area grew nearly 10 percent
between 1995 and 1999 and is expected to growth
another 10 percent in the next five years,
CP&L said.
If approved by the Utilities Commission, the
increase in the fuel factor would raise the
average residential consumer's power bill by 2.9
percent, or $2.38 a month.
State Raises Motor Fuels Tax
to 23.1 Cents Per Gallon
The state motor fuels tax for
gasoline, diesel and alternative fuels will
increase from 22 cents a gallon to 23.1 cents on July 1, the state
Revenue Department said. The new rate includes a tax of 17.5 cents per gallon plus a wholesale component
of 5.6 cents per gallon. The Revenue Department
adjusts the rate twice a year, based on changes
in the wholesale cost of fuel. State law sets the
wholesale component of the tax at 3.5 cents per
gallon or 7 percent of the average wholesale
price during the preceding six months, whichever
is greater. The average price for the last base
period was 80.44 cents per gallon.
Country Club Challenges Special Alcohol
Permits in Dry Counties
Verdict Ridge
County Club in dry Lincoln County is challenging the General
Assembly's practice of granting special liquor permits to private clubs
and sports clubs in some, but not all, counties that don't
generally allow alcohol sales. The
legislature has granted such special alcohol
permits to private sports clubs in 31 counties.
Verdict Ridge is asking a Superior Court judge to
declare the legislative practice
unconstitutional. Verdict Ridge, which is being
developed by former Charlotte mayor Eddie Knox,
applied for permits last year but the state ABC
Commission denied the application because it is
not in a county covered by a special provision.
Knox, who now practices law in Charlotte, is a
member of the State ABC Commission. As a former
members of the General Assembly he helped pass
some of the special provisions.
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