Appalachian Power Seeks Rate Hike, Proposes Alternatives to Ease Customer Impact

CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power submitted a revised base rate review request to the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) today, proposing a rate increase aimed at covering costs for infrastructure upgrades and modernizations. The companies’ primary request seeks a 14.12% annual revenue increase, totaling around $250.5 million. For residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) monthly, this would translate to an estimated $23.74 hike, or a 13.54% rise in their bills.

To mitigate the financial impact, the companies introduced a proposal to implement securitization—an alternative financing strategy to spread costs over time, thereby lowering the monthly increase for customers. Under this plan, bills for a typical residential customer would increase by just 3.8%, or about $6.72 per month. Appalachian Power also proposed an Electricity Rate Stabilization (ERS) mechanism to help limit future rate fluctuations to no more than 3% annually.

Appalachian Power President Aaron Walker emphasized the need for the adjustments to recover the $1.3 billion invested in grid modernization, which has helped enhance reliability during severe weather events, such as Hurricane Helene. “Using the 2023 securitization legislation,” Walker explained, “would significantly lessen the near-term and long-term impact on our customers.”

Without securitization, the average monthly bill for the various classes of customers would be changed as follows under the proposed rates:

Pending approval from the PSC, the new rates could be implemented by December 1, 2024. However, the PSC typically takes up to 300 days to make a final decision on rate requests. Public feedback, including protests or requests to intervene, can be submitted to the PSC at P.O. Box 812, Charleston, WV 25323.

For further details on the proposal and assistance programs, customers can visit AppalachianPower.com/WVRateReview.