The Virginia-based utility giant said its proposed fees would ensure all power users are paying their share of operating and maintaining the grid that delivers electricity to homes and businesses.

Dominion's decision to "pause" its rate hike request will temporarily delay the company's goal of collecting an extra $178 million per year from its ratepayers, which are scattered around Columbia, Charleston, Orangeburg and Beaufort. 

Attorneys for environmental groups, large manufacturing companies and two state agencies are currently in the process of picking apart the rate hike request from Dominion, which took over S.C. Electric & Gas last year. 

Dominion Energy customers will get another opportunity to weigh in on the utility's newly proposed rate hike, which could increase the monthly power bills for 753,000 ratepayers in South Carolina starting next year. 

So, the South Carolina Public Service Commission invited Dominion Energy customers to tee off on the utility’s proposed rate increase last week.

Utility regulators on the Public Service Commission scheduled three virtual hearings to allow Dominion's roughly 753,000 electric ratepayers in the state to voice their opinions.

A new committee could advocate for the state to break up the electric utilities into two distinct groups: companies that own power plants and others that manage the lines that transport electricity to people's homes and businesses. Legislators will also review the idea of giving every power customer in the state the ability to choose which company they buy electricity from. 

A special committee of state lawmakers reviewed more than 40 candidates for the four open seats, which are broken up by Congressional districts. And it eventually determined that 10 of those candidates were qualified for the job.