Curtis Tate Published

PSC Approves Settlements In Mon Power Net Metering, Fuel Cases

Steam rises from the concrete cooling towers of a coal-burning power plant against a gray sky.
Mon Power's Fort Martin Power Station in Monongalia County.
Curtis Tate/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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The West Virginia Public Service Commission has approved settlements in two cases involving Mon Power.

New solar customers will get a reduced net metering credit starting next year. And Mon Power will be able to recover fuel costs from electricity customers over the next three years.

Starting Jan. 1, households with rooftop panels will receive an approximately 9 cents per kilowatt hour credit for the power they generate that goes to the grid.

Under the settlement the PSC approved, existing solar customers will get the higher rate of 11 to 13 cents a kilowatt hour for the next 25 years.

The settlement was a compromise. Mon Power and Potomac Edison had proposed reducing the net metering credit to 6.6 cents a kilowatt hour.

As of March 27, Mon Power began recovering $55.4 million in deferred fuel costs. That will continue through the end of December.

Next year, the company will be allowed to recover $99.5 million, and $95.8 million in 2026.

Like many electric utilities, Mon Power paid steeply higher prices for coal in 2021 and 2022.