Appalachian Power Seeks Rate Increase From PSC

Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power have submitted a proposal to the West Virginia Public Service Commission seeking a surcharge for customers to cover infrastructure investments.

If approved as proposed, residential customer rates would rise about 3.5% effective June 1, 2021, according to a news release Monday from Appalachian Power.

The power company said the increase would be a monthly hike of $4.94 for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours or $8.86 for a customer using 2,000 kilowatt hours.

Company officials said the initial filing seeks an increase of $49.8 million, which represents recovery of costs associated with infrastructure investments made over a nearly three-year period since the companies’ last base rate case filing in 2018.

Appalachian Power said the request, if approved, would implement a surcharge mechanism for recovering costs associated with infrastructure investments made between base rate cases.