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Rate Increase Pending for Appalachian Power Users

WHEELING — Appalachian Power customers received notice this week their rates were increasing 11.13 percent, but that’s a pending hike and, if approved, it might not happen until March 2019.

The subsidiary of American Electric Power filed its request for the rate increase May 9 with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. It asked that the rate increases go into effect June 8 “unless otherwise ordered by the Public Service Commission.” Utility companies are required to file the request at least 30 days before raising bills.

The PSC, meanwhile, has 300 days in which to act upon it, according to PSC spokeswoman Susan Small. The agency’s deadline is March 5, 2019.

Evidentiary hearings about the increase have been scheduled for Nov. 13-16, but required public hearings have not yet been set, she said.

The PSC is accepting from the public protests and requests to intervene pertaining to the proposed rate increase. These requests should briefly state the reason for the protest or intervention, and be addressed to Executive Secretary, Public Service Commission of West Virginia, P.O. Box 812, Charleston, WV 25323.

The hikes being proposed by AEP call for an 11.13 percent increase for residential customers, and an 11.51 increase for commercial users.

The increase would generate an expected $114,588,092 extra for the company annually, according to information provided by AEP. This comes after AEP posted profits of $454 million during the first three months of this year.

In a released statement, AEP reports approximately half of the requested increase is because of a significant decline in the amount of electricity being used by customers.

“Traditionally, revenue from increasing customer usage has been used to offset some increases in the cost of doing business, thereby lessening the need for rate increases,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and COO. “However, customer usage has been declining for the last several years. For residential customers as a whole, electricity usage has dropped by 14 percent since 2013.

“The number of residential customers has also declined, dropping by 11,000 since 2013,” he said.

Also driving the need for increased rates, the company has made major infrastructure investments in the past several years, he said. These include investments in generation facilities, the transmission system serving the region and distribution facilities, including upgrades to the underground distribution networks in Huntington, Charleston and Wheeling.

“We continue to invest in our transmission and distribution network to ensure that service remains reliable,” Beam said. “Our goal is to balance our customers’ service expectations with the need to keep prices as low as possible.”

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