WHEELING – The Sierra Club West Virginia Chapter will host multiple informational events to educate Ohio and Marshall County residents on American Electric Power’s proposed rate increase.

According to Sierra Club WV Chapter Chair Jim Kotcon, AEP’s proposed electric rate hike would raise electric bills in Ohio and Marshall Counties by 13.5%. This would be an approximately $23.74 monthly bill increase for the average residential customer who uses about 1,000 kilowatt hours per month.

The Public Service Commission will hold a hearing regarding the proposed rate increase on Tuesday, June 17, at 5:30 p.m. The Sierra Club is working with its coalition partner, West Virginians for Energy Freedom, to host multiple events to inform residents about the rate case leading up to and on the hearing date.

Kotcon and Sierra Club WV Chapter Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer Lisa Di Bartolomeo will be at Table 304 in Wheeling from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Mug Shots in Moundsville from 1-3 p.m. on Friday to speak with residents about the rate case.

“Folks can drop by and ask questions, whether it’s about the rate case or any other concerns they may have,” Di Bartolomeo said. “It’s an opportunity for us to meet some of the folks in these communities that the rate increase will impact since they fall under AEP’s subsidiary Wheeling Power.”

The Sierra Club WV will also host three educational webinars on June 5, 13 and 16 from noon to 1 p.m. to provide details about the hearing and the rate increase case. Di Bartolomeo said these sessions will also give attendees information about the PSC and the public hearing format on June 17.

“These free webinars will let people know what kind of comments the PSC will be looking for during the hearing and how to make effective comments,” Di Bartolomeo said. “These webinars will be in a lunch and learn format to enable more people to join.”

The Sierra Club WV will host a remote site for the PSC hearing on June 17 at the Ohio County Public Library beginning at 5 p.m. Residents will be able to come to the library to give their public comments on Zoom without traveling to Charleston to attend the hearing in person.

Residents can also contact the Sierra Club WV or West Virginians for Energy Freedom to submit written comments to the PSC. Di Bartolomeo said comments are more impactful to the case before the June 17 hearing, but the PSC will still accept them afterward.

According to Kotcon, the PSC will decide on the rate increase case “some weeks after” the June 17 hearing. He added that “a lot of people” have filed comments so far in opposition to the rate case, and said the Sierra Club WV wants to “make it as easy as possible” for people to “express what these rate increases mean to their personal lives, wallet and home budgets.”

Beyond the proposed impact on pocketbooks, Kotcon noted that another element of AEP’s rate increase proposal is seeking to reduce net metering benefits for solar energy owners.

“Currently, the state allows for net metering for people who have residential rooftop solar panels that generate more electricity than they use,” Kotcon said. “The electricity feeds into the grid and people pay the net difference at the end of the month. Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power are proposing to offer only a small portion of the credit for the electricity residents supply them, and charge residents for the full cost of electricity they use from them.”

For more information about the proposed electric rate hike or to submit PSC comments, residents can contact WV for Energy Freedom at energyfreedomwv.org or the Sierra Club WV at lisa.dibartolomeo@sierraclub.org.