Electricity rates continue climbing across the state of West Virginia, while lawmakers press forward with an agenda to increase production at coal-fired plants.
Meanwhile, regulators in neighboring states have forced utilities to lower rates or invest in cheaper power sources.
In Virginia, customers will save about $10 a month on their electricity bills after Appalachian Power requested a rate reduction from state utility regulators.
The company said it saw a 24% reduction in fuel costs for residential users after lawmakers pushed for more investment in renewable energy sources.
Additionally, Virginia lawmakers passed legislation to cap electric rates during the winter months for AP, when bills can be at their highest. The bill also forces the company to work to lower costs for customers in other ways.
Meanwhile, in Ohio, utility regulators directed power companies to decrease rates, citing affordability concerns from customers despite revenue losses for the state’s three largest utility companies.
Electricity costs keep rising for West Virginians
West Virginians are paying significantly more for electricity than just a few years ago.
The average price for residential customers jumped by nearly 34% between 2019 and 2024, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Energy policy experts say multiple factors are driving increases.
West Virginia has continued to rely on coal for the majority of its energy generation instead of cheaper fuel sources. In 2023, 86% of the state’s electricity production came from coal.
Emmett Pepper, policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, said residents are paying more for electricity because the state is relying heavily on a source of energy that has become expensive to maintain.
“We are using a lot more of one type of power compared to other states,” he said. “We just don’t have a diversity of energy sources.”
When coal becomes more expensive to operate and maintain, customers absorb those costs, he said.
Electric demand is also increasing as data centers pop up across the region, putting more strain on regional power grids.
At the same time, the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, has repeatedly approved rate increases over the years.
Charlotte Lane, chairman of the PSC, told lawmakers during a budget hearing that they’re aware many residents have complained about their energy costs.
“We scrutinize all of those cases, and we try to keep the rates as low as possible,” she said. “We recognize that we have an affordability problem in West Virginia.”
But the commission must also ensure utilities remain financially stable, she said.
FirstEnergy, the parent company of Mon Power and Potomac Edison, said it’s working to keep customer costs affordable and invest in reliable power.
The company said its average monthly residential bill has increased by about 30% over the past five years, largely due to higher coal costs and generation expenses.
But they said their rates are lower than those of other utility companies in West Virginia and in nearby states.
Efforts to help curb electric costs have stalled
Proposals aimed at protecting ratepayers or reducing costs have not moved forward.
Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, introduced a bill to freeze rates for a year, directing the PSC to study how to lower them and present its findings before the legislature.
Her bill was assigned to the Senate Government and Organization committee, where it could have been opened up to discussion and amendments if necessary.
Instead, a committee substitute was placed on the agenda, no longer requiring the rate freeze, so the proposal now only recommends that the PSC study ways to lower rates.
In a meeting last Thursday, members of the committee announced the substituted version of the bill and voted to pass it with no discussion. They decided in just over two minutes and then moved on to another item on the agenda.
Chapman said electricity costs were among the top issues her constituents were concerned about in her district, and she was disappointed to see the bill be drastically changed.
Over in the House, Del. Jeff Eldridge, R-Lincoln, introduced the Ratepayers Bill of Rights legislation.
His proposed bill would provide stronger protections for vulnerable and low-income households, expand notice before major rate increases and implement other cost-saving measures for customers.
Eldridge said his own electric bills have been in the thousands of dollars, despite having dozens of solar panels on his property to reduce costs.
“I hear and feel the struggle of every West Virginian,” he said. “This is the bill that’s giving ratepayers more respect.”
The bill was assigned to the Energy and Public Works Committee.
But Bill Anderson, R-Wood, chairman of the committee, said he believed the best way to lower rates was to increase the output of the state’s coal-fired power plants to ease power demand.
“We’re trying to balance the needs of people as economically as we can while also building for the future of the state,” he said.
Anderson didn’t put the bill on his committee’s agenda for discussion.
So on the House floor, Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, minority chair of the committee, asked lawmakers to pull the bill out of Anderson’s committee and put it before the House for a vote.
“The bill has sat on Energy and Public Works for a couple of weeks now, and it does a number of things to protect ratepayers in West Virginia,” he said.
But Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, immediately raised a motion to table it, which passed overwhelmingly, though 11 Republicans voted with Hansen and the eight other Democrats.
And the chamber moved on to the next item on the calendar. Like in the Senate committee, the decision took minutes.
There was no debate. No discussion of rising power bills. And no sign of relief for ratepayers.