By Mike Tony, The Charleston-Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Public Service Commission wasn’t done approving eight-figure sums for West Virginia American Water when it approved a $24.1 million rate increase for the state’s largest water utility last month.
The PSC followed its 8% increase in water and sewer rates, issued Feb. 23, with a new order Friday approving what the company says are surcharges effective March 1 for $67 million in system-wide upgrades.
The PSC overruled objections from its own staff in many components of its Friday order signing off on a wide range of proposals from West Virginia American, which said Monday it’s still making calculations from the order.
As a result, the investor-owned company said expected average increases of $8 per month for residential water customers and $12 per month for residential wastewater customers are subject to change.
The PSC’s order came in a case West Virginia American filed seeking rate recovery under an infrastructure investment surcharge mechanism the agency approved in 2016 called the Distribution System Improvement Charge, or DSIC.
PSC dismisses staff opposing to new surcharge
The PSC approved a wastewater system improvement surcharge for West Virginia American Water for the first time, dismissing a PSC staff objection to that request.
