By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A Public Service Commission ruling on Mon Power’s and Potomac Edison’s latest rate hike request is still a ways off – March 26, 2024, is the expected date – but the case is slowly unfolding.
On Monday, company officials explained some of the reasoning behind the request in testimony to the PSC.
The companies are seeking a $207 million base rate increase – $207,452,687 to be exact. They say it would add $18.07 to the monthly bill of an average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh), raising it from $120.20 to $138.27 – a 15% increase.
The companies are FirstEnergy sisters, and Raymond Valdez, FirstEnergy’s director of Rates and Regulatory Affairs for West Virginia and Maryland, summarized the issues in Monday’s testimony.
He reminded the PSC that the companies’ last base rate hike request came in April 2014 and took effect in February 2015.
“In general, the companies are seeking an increase in rates because its revenues are not sufficient to cover the cost of service, including a reasonable return to investors,” he said. The requested rate of return is 7.482%.
