Jan. 23—MORGANTOWN — Mon Power, Potomac Edison and the various parties involved in the companies' base-rate increase case have filed a proposed settlement with the Public Service Commission and await the PSC's approval.
Joining the companies in the Joint Stipulation and Agreement filed Tuesday are PSC staff, the PSC's Consumer Advocate Division, the West Virginia Energy Users Group, Longview Power, West Virginia Citizen Action Group, Solar United Neighbors and Energy Efficient West Virginia.
The FirstEnergy sisters' previous base-rate case was filed nine years ago. They originated this rate case on May 31, seeking $207.5 million, including for their infrastructure and their energy assistance programs. The hike would have cost the average residential customer $18.07 per month, a 15 % hike. The overall proposed increase across all customer types—residential, commercial, industrial and street lighting—was 13 %.
In later testimony they reduced their request to $172.8 million, a 10.6 % hike, the settlement says.
They've settled on an increase of $105 million, a 6.4 % overall hike, effective March 27. The companies said the settlement will increase the average monthly residential bill by 7.9 %—$9.94.
The settlement doesn't state how much that would affect the monthly residential bill, only noting these bills will see a 7.9 % increase. But the PSC has already OK'd two other rate increases for the companies—for their Vegetation Management Program and for their Expended Net Energy Costs—and those will have to be factored together.
The companies' request to cut in half the credit for net-metering for home solar customers was not included in the settlement and the parties have asked the PSC to decide on that. This issue was the subject of a two-hour public hearing Monday night—with all speakers opposing the change—and will be further explored in a Thursday evidentiary hearing involving the parties in the settlement.
In the settlement, the companies have agreed to withdraw their request for an Infrastructure Investment Program and to establish instead a three-year IIP pilot program funded with $5 million to $10 million per year. They will book those costs in their next base-rate case, and track the costs and benefits associated with the IIP to possibly propose a full program at a later date.
The companies said in a press release the IIP will enhance reliability in rural areas by funding specific, targeted projects such as the construction of lines that provide alternative sources of power from different circuits.