The PSC says Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s reliability is unreasonable and drags down the reliability of the state’s electricity relative to surrounding states.
The PSC issued the memo on Sept. 27, the day Tropical Storm Helene marched into the region and disrupted power to tens of thousands of Appalachian Power customers.
As of Thursday, several thousand Appalachian Power customers were awaiting the restoration of service in southern West Virginia, mostly in Mercer County.
The company asked the PSC for a 10-day extension to respond to the memo, citing the availability of personnel who were involved in the post-storm restoration effort.
The PSC memo cited staff vacancies and a lack of attention to equipment failures as two underlying causes of reliability concerns.