SCC sets 2nd hearing on Appalachian Power rate-increase plan

By: MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE | Times-Dispatch
Published: June 06, 2009

The State Corporation Commission has scheduled a second public hearing -- this one in Southwest Virginia -- on a proposed electric rate increase by Appalachian Power.

The July 1 hearing in Wytheville "will give members of the public in Appalachian's southwestern Virginia service territory a more convenient location to offer testimony," according to a commission statement.

The proposed 13.1 percent rate increase, the bulk of which will be addressed in the hearing, has generated controversy among residents and Southwest Virginia legislators because the request comes during a recession and on the heels of a 31.3 percent rate increase last year from the utility that serves most of Southwest Virginia.

Delegates and senators from the region have voiced opposition to the proposed increase, calling it unfair to residents; the power company said the increase is needed to simply cover the cost of coal used to produce electricity.

The commission, which decides whether investor-owned utilities such as Appalachian Power can raise their rates, will decide on the request after evidence is collected in the hearings.

"The commission has received hundreds already of written public comments, so certainly the commission was aware early on that there was a high rate of interest among ratepayers of Appalachian Power wanting to comment on the case," said commission spokesman Ken Shrad.

The Wytheville hearing is "a matter of providing a convenience for those people who wish to testify in person."

Shrad said the commission, a three-member panel appointed by the Virginia General Assembly, will hear evidence from the company, the public and others to determine how to apply state law to the rate increase request.

The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. July 1 in Snyder Auditorium at Wytheville Community College, 1000 E. Main St. The hearing is in addition to one set for 10 a.m. June 30 at the Tyler Building at 1300 E. Main St. in Richmond.

Written comments on the proposed fuel-rate increase are due by June 23 and can be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, VA 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2009-00038.

Comments also can be submitted online at www.scc.virginia. gov/case. From the site, click on "public comments/notices" and then "submit comments" for case number PUE-2009-00038.