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Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power have filed a notice of their intent to ask for another base rate increase. If approved, it could happen within 18 months of the last increase.
The companies filed their most recent base rate increase with the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) on Nov. 1, 2024. The adjusted rates went into effect on Aug. 28, 2025.
If the company follows through, increases could happen as soon as March 2 of next year.
The PSC has offered to approve an inflation-based rate increase to go into effect on June 1 if the companies agreed to not file a base rate case until after June 1, 2027.
That would mean a 4% increase on the base rate portion of residential and commercial rates and 2.5% on the base rate portion of industrial rates.
The order explained that the commission had considered the impact of such a filing, and whether there is any alternative that could extend the timing between general base rate cases. The commission said that any alternative must “levelize and moderate the magnitude of future rate increase requests, incentivize the companies to control costs so as to reduce the need for and magnitude of general base rate cases while also considering the needs of the companies to timely recover reasonable and prudently incurred costs.”
Since the increase would not apply to the total bill of any customer, the actual increase would be less than 4% on residential and commercial customer total bills and less than 2.5% on industrial customer total bills. The commission estimates the overall impact on the companies’ total revenue would be approximately 2%, or $40.1 million.
The companies have until April 21 to accept the proposal.
Emmett Pepper, the policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, issued a statement in response.
“We still don’t know how much AEP’s last base rate increase is going to cost us in our bills because they’re still calculating it, so it is outrageous that AEP has returned again to the trough to lap up even higher electric bills,” he said. “The PSC is right to try to slow the relentless cost increases, but it needed more tools at its disposal from the legislature instead of having to offer what it did.”
Pepper called on Gov. Patrick Morrisey to call a special session of the West Virginia Legislature to immediately enact a Ratepayers Bill of Rights.
“Last session, there were multiple bills to protect West Virginia families and small businesses, including moratoria on rate increases, but they all died in committees,” Pepper said. “The Senate was obsessed with forcing us to subsidize coal plants through higher bills, and the House of Delegates was obsessed with data centers and other big businesses, so the rest of us were left out in the cold — hopefully not literally, but for some it may be.”
More information on this case can be found on the PSC website. Click on “Case Information” and access Case Nos. 24-0289-E-P, 24-0415-E-P, 24-0322-E-IMM, and NOIE APCo and Wheeling 26A.