Tag: Utilities

PSC Approves Settlements In Mon Power Net Metering, Fuel Cases

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.

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.

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.

Big Increase For Solar, Dip For Coal, Forecast In Next Two Years

Utility scale solar generation is set to increase 75 percent in 2024 and 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Solar energy is forecast to erode coal’s share of the electricity market in the next two years.

Utility scale solar generation is set to increase 75 percent in 2024 and 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Coal’s share of electricity will decrease 18 percent, according to the agency’s outlook. 

Coal production could fall to levels not seen in more than six decades. In Appalachia, production could fall to 110 million tons in 2025. For perspective, West Virginia alone produced more than 100 million tons as recently as 2019.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis called 2023 a pivotal year in the energy transition. Renewables, including wind, solar and hydro, outpaced coal for 257 days last year. That includes an uninterrupted period of 121 days from February to June.

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).

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.

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.

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