PSC Story Archives - Page 2 of 19 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mon Power, Consumer Groups Settle Solar Net Metering Case

The sides settled on a compromise of roughly 9 cents a kilowatt hour. The new credit takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Mon Power has settled a case with consumer groups that will affect households that have rooftop solar panels.

Existing customers receive a retail rate of 11 to 13 cents per kilowatt hour for the power their solar panels send back to the grid, a process known as net energy metering.

Mon Power and Potomac Edison proposed to cut that credit in half to 6.6 cents per kilowatt hour, the wholesale price.

The sides settled on a compromise of roughly 9 cents a kilowatt hour. The new credit takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Existing customers will still receive the higher credit for 25 years.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) must still approve the settlement.

A bill moving through the House of Delegates would protect the higher net metering credit.

The parties to the settlement include the PSC, the West Virginia Consumer Advocate Division, Citizen Action Group, Solar United Neighbors, Energy Efficient West Virginia and Solar Holler.

“While we continue to believe that the retail rate is fairest for residential solar customers to receive as a credit, we think that this is a fair settlement in the context of this case,” said Leah Barbour, state director for Solar United Neighbors. “There are some important protections for current customers and clear guidelines to ensure solar will continue to work going forward.”

Mon Power serves 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Potomac Edison serves 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle.

Settlement: Mon Power Rates Would Go Up By About $10 A Month

Under a proposed agreement submitted to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, average Mon Power residential electricity customers would see their bills go up $9.94 a month.

Mon Power customers would see their rates increase in March, but not by as much as proposed, if a settlement agreement is approved.

Under a proposed agreement submitted to the West Virginia Public Service Commission, average Mon Power residential electricity customers would see their bills go up $9.94 a month.

In total, that would give the company about $105 million in revenue – about half the $207 million it sought. Electric utilities recover their costs, in part, through rate increases.

The PSC held a public comment hearing on the base rate case on Monday, and will have an evidentiary hearing on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the agency’s headquarters in Charleston.

One issue not settled by the agreement: How much customers with solar panels are credited for the electricity they produce. The parties to the case asked the PSC to rule on the matter.

PSC Decision May Help Appalachian Power Parent Save On Taxes

American Electric Power reported Thursday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will record a pretax charge of $222 million for the third quarter of 2023.

Appalachian Power’s parent company will report a pretax loss as a result of a West Virginia Public Service Commission’s decision this week.

American Electric Power reported Thursday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it will record a pretax charge of $222 million for the third quarter of 2023.

That reflects the PSC’s disallowance of $232 million of the $553 million the company sought to recover from electricity customers for fuel costs going back to 2021.

In addition to helping reduce the company’s tax burden, the loss appears to have no effect on AEP’s plan to pay its shareholders $1.9 billion in 2024, $200 million more than it paid them in 2023, according to an investor presentation this week.

Appalachian Power did say Wednesday that it planned to explore legal options for the PSC ruling. The commission’s decision Tuesday allowed the company to recover $321 million from customers. That will cost the average household $2.50 a month for 10 years.

Appalachian Power is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Appalachian Power Could Take Legal Action Against PSC, Chief Says

In a decision Tuesday, the PSC denied the recovery of $232 million of the $553 million the company sought from electricity customers to account for higher fuel and purchased power costs from 2021 to last year.

Appalachian Power said it’s exploring legal options against the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC).

The PSC did allow the recovery of $321 million over 10 years. That amounts to $2.50 a month on the average residential customer’s bill, and they will begin paying that on Sept. 1.

In a statement, Appalachian Power President and Operating Chief Aaron Walker called the commission’s ruling “disappointing and deeply troubling.”

“Through the information and facts we presented to the commission, and the relevant legal standards, it is our position that no disallowance was warranted,” Walker said. “We are studying the order in detail and will explore all legal remedies available to us.”

The PSC paid an outside consultant to review Appalachian Power’s fuel procurement and power plant management practices during the past three years. It concluded that the company did not respond quickly enough to changes in the coal market, nor did it run its power plants when it was most economical to do so.

The company countered that it had managed its operations the best it could under challenging conditions. The economic rebound in 2021 led to a surge in demand for electricity, pushing up the price of coal and natural gas.

In 2021 and 2022, Appalachian Power and other utilities found themselves short of the coal they needed to operate their plants.

The company sought approval of a settlement that would have spread the cost out over 20 years and reduced the requested amount to $503 million.

The Kanawaha County Commission was among those opposing the settlement. The commission asked the PSC to reject the company’s entire request.

Still, commissioners applauded the PSC’s decision on Wednesday.

“It sends a clear message that excessive rate hikes will not go unchallenged, and utility companies must be held accountable for their actions,” Commissioner Ben Salango said in a statement. “We will continue our fight for fair utility rates that reflect the economic realities facing our community.”

Appalachian Power is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

PSC Denies Part Of Appalachian Power’s Fuel Cost Recovery Case

In a decision Tuesday, the PSC denied nearly $232 million in fuel costs, while approving $321 million, to be recovered over 10 years.

Bringing a nearly two-year case to a close, the West Virginia Public Service Commission denied part of the fuel costs Appalachian Power sought to recover from electricity customers.

In a decision Tuesday, the PSC denied nearly $232 million in fuel costs, while approving $321 million, to be recovered over 10 years.

The average residential customer will pay $2.50 more per month for those 10 years. Customers will begin paying the new rates on Sept. 1.

The PSC also denied a proposed settlement by the West Virginia Energy Users Group and the West Virginia Coal Association to recover fuel costs and other expenses over 20 years at a cost of nearly $3 billion.

The commission staff and the Kanawha County Commission opposed the settlement.

Appalachian Power had sought to recover about $553 million through the beginning of 2023 and an additional $88 million for the year beginning Sept. 1, 2023.

The PSC said the company did not properly manage its coal supplies in 2021 and 2022, leading it to buy coal and purchased power at higher prices. The commission said customers should not have to bear all of those excess costs.

Many power companies struggled with the high cost of coal and natural gas beginning in 2021 after the economy began to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 pushed prices even higher.

Rail and barge availability issues also put pressure on coal supplies at power plants in West Virginia. Appalachian Power at one point sued its largest coal supplier over missed deliveries. The companies eventually settled.

Both coal and natural gas prices have fallen in recent months.

Appalachian Power is an underwriter of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

PSC Staff Says Water Company Slow To Share Data

The PSC’s staff filed a motion last week to compel West Virginia American Water to provide the information it requested in early December.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission’s staff says West Virginia American Water hasn’t shared the information it requested regarding a November water leak and gas outage in Charleston.

The PSC’s staff filed a motion last week to compel West Virginia American Water to provide the information it requested in early December.

PSC staff had asked the company to reply by Dec. 26. In its filing last week, the PSC staff says West Virginia American Water had failed to provide much of the requested information.

It accused the company of throwing “shade” on the PSC staff’s general investigation of the November event, which left hundreds of West Side residents without gas service, in some cases for weeks.

West Virginia American Water, in a subsequent filing, says a meeting will be scheduled this week with PSC staff to resolve the issues they raised.

In December, Mountaineer Gas sued West Virginia American Water, alleging that water from a broken main on Nov. 10 flooded its gas lines with water.

West Virginia American water has said it’s premature to pin the gas outages on the water main failure. It also said it would cooperate with the PSC investigation.