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WHEELING -- Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power are seeking a rate increase that would raise the average monthly residential bill by more than $18. Elected officials throughout West Virginia pushed back against the idea, saying another hike would be too much for their constituents to bear.
The companies made the request this week to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, according to multiple news outlets citing a statement from Appalachian Power. If the PSC gives that increase the greenlight, that nearly 12% hike would take effect beginning Sept. 1 and would raise the average monthly residential bill by $18.41.
The increase is necessary due to the "steep and rapid rise in energy and fuel costs over the past several months," said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer.
If the PSC allows Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power to move ahead with the rate hike, it would be the second rate increase since last June. Then, the PSC approved Appalachian Power's request for an infrastructure improvement plan surcharge last June. That led to a 6.12% increase for monthly bills.
Randy Wharton, president of the Ohio County Commission, said this proposed increase was "far too excessive," and that an $18-a-month jump would not be well received.
"At this point in time, people are coming out of COVID and other stressful situations," he said. "It's the wrong amount at the wrong time."
Kanawha County commissioners also railed against the proposal. Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper called for a moratorium on back-to-back rate hikes.
"Our citizens cannot afford any additional rate increases by the public utility companies," he said in a statement released by the Kanawha County Commission. "I am also calling upon the West Virginia Legislature to exert oversight on public utilities and stop this ridiculous, continuous attack on the people of West Virginia."
Wharton said that, if he's running a business and dealing with increased costs, he'd first look at every way he could cut costs on his end before he even considered pushing those cost increases onto his customers. He hopes the PSC will take a hard look at the proposal.
"Rate hikes and tax increases should be the very, very last resort," he said. "No one has convinced me that they have exhausted all the means they have to avoid that. The piggyback effect of price increases need to stop somewhere and be dealt with a little more judiciously."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.