PSC

Appalachian Power is seeking to recover $297 million from ratepayers. They will get a chance to speak out, starting Wednesday at the Ohio County Courthouse in Wheeling.

The state Public Service Commission will hold public hearings later this month on Appalachian Power’s proposed $297 million rate increase.

The average residential user will pay about $9 more a month, or about 9 percent. For 1,000 kilowatt hours, that means a total of $115 a month.

According to filings this week with the Public Service Commission, the average monthly Appalachian Power bill in West Virginia is $155.

The company has filed written testimony in recent weeks to the PSC that the cost of coal has risen from $35 a ton in 2020 to $84 a ton.

The sharply higher cost of coal and natural gas is behind the request. Coal prices have more than doubled from a year ago, and natural gas prices have more than tripled.

Appalachian Power has about 500,000 customers in Virginia who receive power from the Mountaineer and John Amos power plants.

In testimony in recent weeks filed with the state Public Service Commission, American Electric Power told regulators it couldn’t replenish its coal supply after September because of high worldwide demand.

Critics have questioned whether all three plants will be needed as coal continues to lose ground to natural gas and renewables.

An ownership agreement currently before state regulators could result in the shutdown of one of the plant’s two units, or repowering it with natural gas, two technical experts testified.