Rep. Brown files bill in North Carolina House to change utilities’ fuel cost recovery rules

A new bill filed by State Rep. Terry M. Brown Jr. in the North Carolina House aims to restrict utilities’ recovery of past fuel expenses from customers and maintain existing oversight procedures, according to the North Carolina State House.

The bill, filed as HB 1168 on April 30 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘Limit Electric Util. Hist. Fuel Cost Recovery.’

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends state law to bar the Utilities Commission from allowing electric public utilities to recover fuel or fuel-related costs incurred before the test period used in a fuel-cost proceeding, effectively restoring limits on recovering historic fuel expenses from customers. It keeps requirements for public hearings, evidence review and interest on over- or under-recoveries, and it maintains the use of deferral accounting and 12-month riders to adjust rates. The bill appropriates $10,000 in nonrecurring General Fund money to the Utilities Commission for implementation and takes effect July 1, 2026, applying to rate-making mechanisms filed on or after that date.

Of the four sponsors of this bill, Robert T. Reives, II proposed the most bills (50) during the 2025 regular session.

Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.

Brown graduated from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte with a BA and again in 2015 from Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University with a JD.

Brown, a Democrat, was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2021 to represent the state’s 92nd House district, replacing previous state representative Chaz Beasley.