CHARLESTON W.Va. (WVDN) – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia has ordered an independent audit into the reliability of service provided to customers of two major electricity producers.
The order results from complaints the Commission has received about service interruptions for Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co., and the inability of those two to meet reliability improvement targets set by the PSC.
The study must be filed with the Commission no later than December 31.
The Commission has been concerned in recent proceedings about service interruptions and the length of those breaks and what the companies have been doing to ensure interruptions are kept to a minimum. In a ruling issued on January 28, the Commission was critical of both companies over meeting reliability targets.
The two companies and the PSC legal staff on April 22 petitioned for the independent audit.
The audit should focus on six areas of concern: staffing levels, company service center facilities, how each utility manages the operations of the distribution system, opportunities for improving accuracy of estimated time of restoration of power to customers, comparison of their systems with others, and recommendations for improvements on a 1-3-year basis and 3-10-year basis.
Each company should use the audit findings “to act timely to improve electricity reliability for its customers,” the order said.
The companies, who will pay for the audit, were told to solicit bids by August 15. The commission then would select the auditing firm by September 1.
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. 25-0396-E-P.
