The South Carolina General Assembly passed the South Carolina Energy Security Act, which took effect upon Gov. Henry McMaster’s approval on May 12. According to the bill text, the goal is to improve the energy grid in South Carolina and focuses on utility regulation, renewable energy advancement and consumer protections. “The totality of this effort, this policy direction and the tools the tactics that are involved in this new legislation, most of it is really focused on the customer,” Duke Energy spokesperson Ryan Mosier said. “What can we do to lessen the shock, lessen the impact of these things that we have to do these new power plants, that we have to build this new infrastructure, we have to put out there to serve customers for the long term.” This is not the first time the State House attempted to pass this bill and there were a few different amendments throughout the session this year. “We’ve been involved with electric rate cases since 2002, we know what drives increases in rates, and it’s building things,” South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce CEO Frank Knapp said.Some critics of this act preferred the Senate amended version of this bill, which included consumer protections such as notice to landowners whose land could be taken by eminent domain for new power plants, requiring data centers to report water usage and ensuring utilities were reducing load before spending money on new projects. The House removed those amendments in the final version of this bill. “When it was first introduced, it really would have drastically reduced environmental and ratepayer oversight of utilities at essentially every stage, but unfortunately, there is still very little in this bill to protect the environment or ratepayers,” a senior attorney at the South Carolina Environmental Law Center, Kate Mixon, said. Mixon said currently, utilities have to go before the Public Service Commission files an application detailing the money they spent and why the costs are reasonable. Then there will be an opportunity for the public to let the PSC know about their concerns with the increase. “That can be a fairly in-depth, lengthy process for the commission and before utility is able to raise rates,” Mixon said. “Under this new provision, that entire timeline gets condensed quite a bit.”Rate increases would be on an annual basis rather than every few years. “It’s sticker shock,” Mosier said. “It’s a big ask, and so what we are looking at doing is shrinking that, spreading it out more evenly over time, and the rate stabilization clause of the new legislation allows us to do that.”A streamlined process means there is no evidentiary hearing until the utility company needs to go before the PSC.Mixon said this means customers could see their rates increase in the near future.”We don’t know when the utilities will be filing for approval under this new rate increase mechanism, but I would expect that could also happen fairly soon,” Mixon said. WYFF 4 asked Duke Energy about this and how these increases will impact your bill.”As far as the bill, we’re always looking for different ways to explain things on both the printed bill, which some customers still receive, but the electronic version as well, which we encourage folks to participate in, use the app, you know, the new technology that makes life easier for all of us,” Mosier said. “But yes, communication with customers, especially along things like rate changes, is very important to us.”Mosier also said Duke Energy customers will receive an announcement after it evaluates what the immediate needs are for the Carolinas and what technology is needed to make that happen. He said that it could look like repurposing old infrastructure.”We’re looking for sites both like that and new sites that have never had generation to make sure that we have what we need, where we need, so that we keep the lights on for customers today, tomorrow and in the future,” Mosier said. Another concern for those opposed to the new regulations is the new data centers coming into the area and increasing the need for a stronger power grid. Knapp said 65% of the future energy needs of the state come from data centers, which power your artificial intelligence and other technology needs. “We just don’t think that if a Google or Meta needs more energy than they ought to produce their own energy instead of putting it on the backs of the consumers, including small businesses,” Knapp said. Mosier said these data centers are treated like any other customer in the community. “So, we evaluate their needs, and we evaluate what we can do to serve them and we had those conversations and move forward from there,” Mosier said.He said ultimately, this bill could mean lowering your bills in the long term. “There are things in there that encourage us to explore energy efficiency programs and similar demand side management programs that help customers and encourage customers to reduce their bills,” Mosier said. “The less electricity use, the lower your bill is going to be.”