Appalachian Power is trying to raise rates AGAIN!

Appalachian Power is asking state regulators to raise its rates — again. At the end of March, the utility company asked state regulators for a rate increase that would amount to about $10 more per month for average residential customers. This request comes after Appalachian Power raised the average customer bill about $16 earlier this year. 

With both of these rate increases, the typical Appalachian Power customer’s bill would rise to approximately $185 per month, a massive increase since July 1, 2018, when the typical residential bill was just over $115 per month.

Communities in Southwest Virginia already pay a high portion of their incomes on electricity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, households spending 6% or more of their monthly income on energy bills are considered to bear a “high” energy burden, but most of the counties in Appalachian Power’s service territory already spend 7-10% of their monthly income on energy bills. 

State regulators must protect working families from high energy bills. The State Corporation Commission needs to hear from Appalachian Power customers who will be impacted by the rate increase. Submit your comment to the SCC today!

Appalachian Power customers have until Sept. 4 to submit comments to the SCC opposing these rate increases. Tell the commission how this rate increase would impact your family now and in the future. 

Use the following information to help write your comment!

• On March 28, Appalachian Power filed its biennial rate review request with the State Corporation Commission (PUR-2024-00024), requesting $95 million in additional revenues that would come from customer rate increases. 
• If granted, this rate increase would amount to an additional $10.22 per month for a residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity — the average monthly consumption for a small to mid-sized house. 
• Appalachian Power also asked for its authorized profit level to increase from 9.5% to 10.8%.
• All of this is on top of the roughly $16 per month increase for the typical customer that was approved and went into effect in January of this year.