Rate increase Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mon, PE Power Customers To Receive Credit For Misused Funds

Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison company customers will receive a one-time fixed bill credit on their 2024 July bill.

The company’s combined 800,000 customers will receive a part of the $2.5 million dollar credit. An audit ordered by state regulators into the operations of the power companies revealed financial misconduct and called for greater accountability of lobbying expenses and better record keeping.

The audit followed both companies’ requests for a rate increase.

An accounting firm hired by the Public Service Commision to investigate the two power companies recommended further investigations into millions of dollars in fuel procurement and management consulting and suggested further reviews elsewhere.
Both companies are a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation which paid a $230 million fine in 2021 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement for its role in a bribery scheme.

West Virginia American Water Seeks Rate Increase For Customers

In a letter to the Public Service Commission, the mayor and city council requested the proposed rate increases be rejected, or at minimum, delayed until April 1, 2024 or later.

West Virginia’s Public Service Commission Tuesday will hear a request from West Virginia American Water Company to raise water rates.

Despite overwhelming public disapproval during a public hearing last month, the utility wants the PSC to approve a rate increase of slightly more than $41 million. That equates to a nearly 22.5 percent increase in monthly bills for customers.

Residential customers using 3,000 gallons a month would see an increase of about $19. The average commercial customer using 16,000 gallons per month would see an increase of $101.08.

The water company said the increase is needed to cover $340 million in upgrades to water and wastewater systems. Further upgrades are planned in 2024.

Charleston Mayor Amy Schuler Goodwin and members of the city council are opposed to the rate increase. They said the rate increase should be scrapped and cited West Side residents who went weeks without service after water flooded gas lines and shut down their gas service.

In a letter to the Public Service Commission, the mayor and city council requested the proposed rate increases be rejected, or at minimum, delayed until April 1, 2024 or later.

“During a time when our families on the West Side are struggling, it is imperative we do everything we can to lessen the burden,” Goodwin said. “As utility rates continue to rise, it becomes more difficult for our families to make ends meet. We strongly urge the PSC to consider our request – especially as we approach winter and the holiday season.”

Charleston City Council Member Emmett Pepper said it is critical that families be provided some relief during a difficult time.

“Not only are our West Side families faced with the potential financial burden of increased water and gas rates, but they are also now going to be faced with higher electric bills due to the reliance on electric heaters during this gas outage,” Pepper said.

The letter urged the PSC to consider taking further action to empower residents to “better control their energy bills through increased energy efficiency programs for gas and electric customers.”

The PSC hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the PSC headquarters at 201 Brooks Street.

Mountaineer Gas Asking for Rate Increase

Mountaineer Gas Co. has asked the Public Service Commission for a rate increase.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the company requested an increase in base rates and charges for natural gas service that it provides to more than 200,000 customers in West Virginia.

The newspaper reports the monthly bill for an average residential customer would increase by $3.87, or 6.4 percent, while average commercial customers would see an increase of $12.45, or 5.05 percent, and industrial customers would see an average increase of $165.16, or 9.86 percent.

Public Service Commission spokeswoman Susan Small says the gas company proposed making the new rates effective April 5, but the commission suspended that date for 270 days based on the number of customers.

West Virginia American Water Reaches Deal in Rate Increase

West Virginia American Water says it and state Public Service Commission staff have a tentative agreement over an increase to monthly bills.

The company tells news outlets in a statement the deal would increase rates by 14 percent, which would be $6.69 more for an average customer. The commission still has to approve the proposal, and if they do, customers would experience increased rates starting Feb. 25.

The company originally sought a 24 percent increase.

A company official went before the commission Tuesday to ask for support over the increase. Rod Nevirauskas, rates director for American Water, told commissioners the company is losing revenue as it’s investing millions of dollars in infrastructure and customers are using less water.

Under the agreement, the company couldn’t ask for another increase until 2021.

West Virginia Water Company Asks to Raise Prices 24 Percent

A company in West Virginia says it’s seeking to raise prices for customers by nearly $12 per month.

WSAZ-TV reports West Virginia American Water is asking the Public Service Commission to approve the 24 percent rate increase. The increase would add about $32 million to the company’s revenue.

The company says ongoing infrastructure investments and the state’s falling population have prompted the request. Company President Brian Bruce says the costs to provide water are fixed and don’t vary with the volume of water sold.

WSAZ says the company has raised rates five times since 2007, with the most recent being a 15 percent increase in 2016. The company also added a surcharge to bills last year.

If approved, the rate change won’t go into effect until February 2019.

Landline Fees Raised in Cabell County to Fund 911 Center

Cabell County residents and businesses with landline phones can expect to see an increase on their phone bills.

The Herald-Dispatch reports that the Cabell County Commission voted Thursday to increase the landline tariff for residential and business lines in order to compensate for an anticipated $43,000 increase in next year’s medical insurance for emergency response employees.

The fee has been raised from $2.50 per month for residential lines to $7 and from $3 for business lines to $9.50.

The emergency response center has only two sources of revenue for their roughly $3 million budget — the fees on landlines and the $3 state fee on wireless plans.

Mike Davis, director of the county response center, says if the fee increase wasn’t passed, five employees would have to be let go.