Public Service Commission Story Archives - Page 3 of 10

Failing Boone-Raleigh Sewage District Taken Over, Rate Hikes On The Way

West Virginia American Water (WVAW) completed its acquisition of Boone-Raleigh public service district’s sewage Wednesday. The 380 customers served by the utility will have a change in their billing as well. Under WVAW, the average customer using 3,400 gallons of water a month will be paying around $6 more for sewage.

West Virginia American Water (WVAW) completed its acquisition of Boone-Raleigh public service district’s sewage Wednesday.

The acquisition comes after the Boone-Raleigh sewage utility was deemed to be a failing wastewater system by the Public Service Commision (PSC) and owed $1.2 million in debt. The PSC looked to WVAW to take over the utility because it was close by and had the capacity to take over.

Government and External Affairs Manager Megan Hannah said West Virginia American Water began metering water Wednesday morning.

“Boone-Raleigh read their meters for the last time, so customers will receive a final bill from Boone-Raleigh Public Service District in the month of November,” Hannah said. “Starting today, those customers will have a meter read from West Virginia American Water, and they will receive their first bill from us in December.”

Hannah said WVAW has plans to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the sewage system to bring it up to state standards.

“Certainly, with any transition, we know that there could be some hiccups. So, we have communicated with our customers that we appreciate their patience as we go through this transition process,” she said.

The 380 customers served by this utility will have a change in their billing as well. Under WVAW, the average customer using 3,400 gallons of water a month will be paying around $6 more for sewage.

Currently WVAW is waiting for a decision from the PSC that would increase its customers’ bills for water and sewage. If approved by the PSC residents in the Boone-Raleigh public service district would see an increase of around $27 for the average user, from what they were paying before the acquisition.

However the PSC is also considering an income-based program that would issue discounts to low-income utility users on a sliding scale. This, if approved, would be a stackable discount with the existing 20 percent off that is applied to utility users who receive assistance from Department of Health and Human Resources programs.

“We do want to be cognizant of the fact that our customers are feeling the pressure everywhere when it comes to the prices that they’re paying,” Hannah said. “So, we have proposed this low-income discount program to the Public Service Commission as part of our rate case, which will essentially follow federal poverty guidelines. So based on household income.”

Looking At WVU, Flooding And Supernovas, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we hit the ground running with stories about the no confidence vote at WVU, flooding clean-up and a hearing that Public Service Commission.

On this West Virginia Week, we hit the ground running with stories about the no confidence vote at WVU, flooding clean-up and a hearing that Public Service Commission. We’ve also shared stories about Olympic volleyball and supernovas and two more installments from our workforce series.

News Director Eric Douglas is our host this week.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schultz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Water Company Must Now Inform Nonprofits Of Tax Exemptions

West Virginia-American Water Company (WVAWC) is now required to let nonprofit organizations know when they might be entitled to tax breaks on their utility bills.

On Wednesday, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said the water company must break out clearly for tax-exempt customers any tax breaks being offered by any town or city across the state in its coverage area.

Those breaks would be for exemptions to local taxes for some charitable, religious or nonprofit organizations.

The requirement was limited to the 19-county water company.

Some municipalities impose business and occupation taxes and municipal excise taxes, which were the subject of the decision. Some towns and cities also provide tax exemptions for various religious, nonprofit or charitable organizations.

The case involved a complaint brought by a tax-exempt school that claimed it was denied its proper status by WVAWC. Further, the school asserted the company had improperly collected municipal taxes from it.

The commission was “troubled that exemptions we know to exist in certain municipalities” served by the water company are not explained to customers.

WVAWC “should be aware of exemption qualifications specified in ordinances and notify a customer seeking an exemption of the qualification requirements,” the PSC ruled.

The company “may be charging customers with municipal tax surcharges and not providing sufficient notice to the customers that certain statutory exemptions exist.”

It said the commission is “certain” that no exemptions were listed on the company’s filing with the commission.

“We direct WVAWC to obtain current copies of the municipal tax ordinances for the municipalities listed as requiring tax surcharges in its tariff and file updated tariff pages with explanatory footnotes if any exemptions apply,” the PSC said.

More information on this case can be found on the PSC website: www.psc.state.wv.us. Click on “Case Information” and access Case No. 22-1035-W-C.

Alderson Broaddus University To File For Bankruptcy

Alderson Broaddus University’s Board of Trustees has voted to file a petition with the United States Bankruptcy Court to liquidate the university’s assets under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code and plans to file that petition today, August 31,2023.

That is according to a letter filed with the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) Wednesday by board chair James Garvin. The letter asks PSC to not authorize the termination of utility services until the filing of the bankruptcy petition and the implementation of the resulting automatic stay of collection efforts by creditors, including the City of Philippi.

The letter gives three reasons for the continued need for utilities on campus including an on-campus daycare center and the storage of volatile chemicals. The third reason is the need of a bankruptcy trustee to assess the university’s affairs.

The letter was filed as a response to PSC’s Aug. 8 order for the university to appear and show cause why electric, garbage, sewer and water services should not be terminated. The City of Philippi opened proceedings to terminate the university’s utilities July 27, claiming Alderson Broaddus owed the city more than $750,000.

Less than a week later on July 31, the Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) voted unanimously to revoke the private university’s authorization to confer degrees in the state. With more than $30 million in debt, HEPC determined the financial condition rendered the institution unable to create a stable, effective and safe learning environment for its students.

Universities across West Virginia have made accommodations for Alderson Broaddus students impacted by the situation that suddenly needed to transfer in the days and weeks before the start of the fall semester.

In the letter, Garvin said the HEPC order had eliminated the university’s normal source of tuition revenue, leading to the decision to file for bankruptcy.

“The absence of that revenue and the nearly total lack of financial liquidity necessary to operate have severely impaired AB’s ability to effectively wind down its operations as described in the HEPC Order,” the letter said.

The letter concludes asking PSC to deny the City of Philippi’s petition and direct the city to continue providing utility services until it can reach an agreement with the university’s bankruptcy trustee or until the U.S. Bankruptcy Court enters an order addressing the provision of utility services.

Regional Power Companies Propose To End Net Metering

Currently solar customers can sell any excess solar energy they have back to the power companies for the same price that the company sells the energy. However, the power companies are proposing that they pay solar customers a lower “wholesale” price.

Mon Power and Potomac Edison filed a proposal with the Public Service Commission to change the cost of energy for solar panel owners, changing the net metering system as it is now.

They said this adjustment would make the cost of energy more equitable for non-solar customers because solar customers do not pay to store electricity, maintain the grid, or distribute the electricity that they sell. They said then those costs are passed onto other customers who do not have solar panels.

However, Leah Barbor, from West Virginians for Energy Freedom, said the idea that non solar customers will end up paying more because of solar customers is a myth.

“Ultimately, this myth serves utility interests,” Barbor said. “So, they will use it to push for policies that unfairly target solar owners. Either by raising fixed costs and demanding charges on utility bills, which will then lengthen the time it takes for solar investment to pay off, or they’ll weaken or eliminate net metering policies — which is the case here in West Virginia.”

She said that solar can make the cost of energy cheaper, especially during natural disasters, extreme weather events, and high energy demand. She also said that because solar users do not use the grid as often, they do not put much wear and tear on it, making it last longer.

“Rooftop solar really benefits everyone. And this is true for whether people have solar or not,” Barbor said.

Update: Legislators Hear Update On PSC Fire Hydrant Investigation

Legislators heard an update about the Public Service Commission’s statewide investigation into the maintenance and testing of fire hydrants at Monday’s interim meetings.

Updated on Tuesday, Aug. 08, 2023 at 10:15 a.m.

The deadline for municipalities and water districts to file reports on the maintenance and testing of their fire hydrants was extended to Aug. 25 in an order issued Monday evening by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.

“Despite the considerable number of entities that failed to respond, only a handful of entities contacted the commission to request additional time to provide the requested information,” the order said.

The order goes on to note that maintaining accurate and up to date records should be “business as usual” for a public utility and that information pertaining to utility facilities, including information regarding fire hydrants is required annually in the reports water utilities must file.

“We consider this to be a front and center public safety issue for which timing is of the essence and further delay is unacceptable,” the order said.

The order makes it clear there will be no additional extensions granted for any reason, and the PSC will proceed with appropriate actions to advise or direct utility action to protect the public health and safety.

Original Post:

Legislators heard an update about the Public Service Commission’s statewide investigation into the maintenance and testing of fire hydrants at Monday’s interim meetings.

At the end of June, the PSC initiated a general investigation and required all 301 of the state’s utilities that own fire hydrants, or that serve private fire hydrants, to report certain information including the number of hydrants owned or serviced, their age and maintenance schedules and practices by July 28.

However, during the Monday meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Technology and Infrastructure Jonathan Fowler, PSC engineer, told lawmakers that only about half of utilities have responded.

“The water utilities have never been asked to report anything other than the number of hydrants in their annual reports,” he said. “What we’re trying to do now is to develop a more comprehensive database to reflect the industry standard on maintenance and testing of these hydrants.”

According to Fowler, there is a national standard that specifies that fire hydrants should be inspected annually and should be flow tested either every three years or every five years.

“We are trying to determine how many utilities comply with that standard,” he said.

Fowler said he has been pleasantly surprised at the number of smaller utilities that have written fire hydrant maintenance procedures and documentation.

Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, said she was intimately familiar with why the investigation is happening, in reference to a fire in May that burned down a Charleston house where firefighters could not find a functioning hydrant.

“Half of these water utilities are not in compliance,” she said. “What do you do if they don’t respond? These people’s homes are potentially in danger, so how do we best protect our constituents?”

Fowler said there will be a further order issued by the PSC requiring those to respond.

“And I would suppose after this second notification, there may be an additional action by the commission,” he said.

Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, asked if there was a plan to replace inoperable hydrants after the data collection process was concluded.

“Utilities are supposed to repair and maintain their system in accordance with the standards,” Fowler said. “For small utilities costs can be a deterrent.”

He went on to explain that new hydrants being installed on existing lines can cost between $10,000 to $13,000. He explained that hydrants are robustly designed and are designed to be maintained for 100 years.

“We have a few in this state that are over 100 years old. The majority from what I’m seeing in the data responses are less than 50 years old, and you can still get all the parts you need for those,” Fowler said. “So it gets back to an issue of requiring the utility to better maintain the hydrants. We had one utility responded that seven fire hydrants in his system are so old, he’s afraid to open them because he can’t shut them back off. So this is the kind of thing we’re getting. It’s an important public safety question.”

Fowler said once the PSC has received all the information from utilities it will be able to formulate an appropriate response.