CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia approved a two-part, inflation-based rate adjustment “experiment” that replaces a proposed $188.4 million rate increase for Monongahela Power Co. and The Potomac Edison Co.
In exchange for a promise to withdraw the request for $188 million and not to file a general rate increase prior to April 1, 2028, the PSC said the two companies could have a $37.9 million increase in rates on August 1, 2026; followed by a $37.6 million rate increase on June 1, 2027.
The approved filing calls for a $3.65 monthly increase in average residential rates and a 1.7 percent increase for commercial rates this year, followed next year by a $4.01 residential rate increase and a 1.6 percent increase for commercial classes. The average monthly residential bill will rise from $137.86 to $145.52, or 5.6 percent. Under the original filing, average monthly residential bills would have increased $17.89 per month, or 13 percent.
Calling it “a reasonable and worthwhile rate experiment,” the Commission said this rate is temporary, ratepayers will have lower rates under this plan, and there will be a longer time between base rate increase filings.
The company proposed the alternative rates to “ease the rate increase burden on customers.”
The PSC utility staff and an expert witness for the Consumer Advocate Division opposed the plan.
The Commission, however, said the two-part plan “is the economically preferable recovery structure because it minimizes both the total amount paid by customers and the present value of those payments, while avoiding the larger future payment burden.”
“At a time when costs keep increasing, thereby causing rates to increase, we are trying to find new ways to establish rates for the companies that are reasonable and not discriminatory, that help the customers and that do not require a base rate case every year or year and a half,” the Commission said.
The decision follows a similar ruling involving Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co.
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. 26-0508-E-42T.
