Appalachian Power seeks to raise resident's rates by 6 percent

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read

Apr. 18—CHARLESTON — Appalachian Power, along with Wheeling Power, have submitted Expanded Net Energy Cost (ENEC) and Vegetation Management Program (VMP) filings to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) that would raise residential customer rates by about 6 percent.

The company is requesting an increase of $73 million in the amount collected for ENEC, and a continuation of the current VMP rates, to take effect Sept. 1, Appalachian Power officials said in their announcement late Friday.

If approved as proposed, residential customer rates would rise approximately 6 percent, a monthly increase of $8.10 for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours or $16.20 for a customer using 2,000 kilowatt-hours.

The ENEC reimburses the company on a dollar-for-dollar basis for coal and natural gas to fuel power plants and for purchased power. The VMP reimburses the company for right-of-way vegetation management. Filings for these essential components of generating and delivering electricity are made regularly to ensure the amount included in rates accurately reflects past and ongoing expenditures, company officials stated.

"The ENEC amount is mostly for dollars already spent but not recovered in last year's case when the financial impacts of the pandemic on our customers were most severe," said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and COO. "The pandemic has been difficult, and that's why we suspended disconnects for non-payment for most of 2020 and made it easier to get payment arrangements."

Beam said that the company also administered $12.7 million of Fresh Start tax savings toward erasing the debt of residential customers with past due amounts of more than 90 days and credited $7.4 million received from the State of West Virginia CARES program to eligible residential customers.

Beam said the company will continue to seek ways to help customers struggling financially from the pandemic. At the same time, the ENEC and VMP amounts included in rates ultimately need to reflect actual costs.

The company requested a $5 million increase this week in rates to recover the approved cost of its energy efficiency and demand response programs, to take effect January 2022.