ROANOKE, Va., June 13, 2007 – Starting this week Virginia customers of Appalachian Power will see lower base rates for electricity service.
Beginning with bills processed June 14, customer accounts will be calculated according to new base rates authorized last month by the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC). The new rates replace and are lower than interim rates implemented by law and with SCC approval in October 2006 as part of Appalachian’s original rate request.
The change in customer bills applies only to the base rate. It does not affect other recent rate-related increases approved by the SCC, including the December 2006 implementation of an Environmental and Reliability (E&R) surcharge and a January 2007 fuel factor adjustment.
On May 15, the SCC authorized a rate increase generating $24 million in new revenue for Appalachian. The company had sought an increase of approximately $198 million in its application filed in May 2006.
Under the new rate structure, Appalachian estimates a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (KWH) of electricity in a month will pay about $66.72, excluding taxes.
For other levels of use in a month, estimated residential costs will be:
500 KWH $ 37.60
1,000 KWH 66.72
2,000KWH 124.98
3,000 KWH 183.25
The SCC approved the new rate structure based on its May order. While the approved overall increase in revenue for Appalachian is 3.1 percent, residential customers will see an average increase over the old base rates of approximately 4.8 percent. Most classes of commercial and industrial customers will see increases of 2.2 percent or less. The difference
results from the partial reversal of a long-standing subsidy of residential consumers by commercial and industrial customers.
In its May 15 ruling, the SCC also directed the company to refund with interest the difference between the amounts collected from customers under the interim rates and those that would have been collected since October if the final rates had been in place. Those refunds are to be made to customers before mid-August.
All new customer rate tariffs may be viewed on Appalachian Power’s Web site:
https://www.appalachianpower.com/CustomerService/RatesAndTariffs/LegalTariffFilings/Virginia.aspx
Appalachian Power customers are urged to continue to manage energy use wisely and to go to the company’s Internet site (
www.AppalachianPower.com) for energy-saving tips and a free home energy calculator that provides a better understanding of how to use power efficiently. The site also provides information on payment options available to customers.
The last time the company was granted a general base rate increase by the Commission was in 1993. Its last base rate change was a decrease in 1999. Appalachian Power ranks among the lowest-cost providers of electricity in
Virginia and in
U.S. comparisons.
Appalachian Power has about 1 million customers in
Virginia,
West Virginia and
Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the
United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning more than 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
John Shepelwich
Corporate Communications Manager
(540) 985-2968
jeshepelwich@AEP.com