For the first time in years, the average West Virginian pays almost as much for utilities as do urban residents in surrounding states.
The Consumer Advocate Division, the state agency that represents residential utility customers in front of the West Virginia Public Service Commission, released the numbers Wednesday as part of its annual report.
The report reviewed changes to gas, water, electric and telephone rates in West Virginia and 17 cities in the state over the past year, and found that the average West Virginian now pays $288 a month, or $3,444 a year, for those services.
By comparison, the report found that residents in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Columbus, Richmond and Lexington, Kentucky pay $290 per month for those four utility services.
Those numbers still give West Virginia utility customers an advantage of less than $3, but it stands in stark contrast to previous years, when West Virginians paid as much as $43 less than residents in those out-of-state cities.
In the utility rate cases that were finished in 2015, West Virginia gas and electric utilities requested rate increases of about $638 million. In response, the PSC approved increases - mostly through settlements - totaling $364 million.
The electric utilities in the state saw the highest jump in rates, including PSC-approved increases of $163.5 million for American Electric Power subsidiaries Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power, and $196.1 million for First Energy subsidiaries MonPower and Potomac Edison.
"The increased cost of electricity since 2012 is placing a significant burden on household budgets in West Virginia," the report stated.
CAD Director Jackie Roberts said electric utilities are expected to continue to cost more in the future because of continued changes in the most competitive fuel sources for electricity and from the implementation of already active and expected environmental regulations.
In recent years, the PSC approved the takeover of coal-fired power plants for MonPower and Appalachian Power, to replace older plants being put out of commission because of their age and inability to meet sulfur and mercury pollution rules.
However, as the energy sector is pushed by cheaper electricity from natural gas and the expected rules on carbon emissions, Roberts said, the state's two largest utilities likely will need to make changes.
Both companies recently released planning documents on what changes they might make in the future. Appalachian Power has some plans to adopt renewable energy sources. MonPower hopes to buy another existing coal-fired plant in the region.
Any type of changes the companies make likely will cost ratepayers and will be added on top of rate increases for enhanced tree-trimming programs, which the PSC approved last year.
Because of that, the CAD emphasized the need for customers to adopt energy efficiency measures in their homes, to cut down on the amount of electricity they use every month.
Those increases in electric utility rates, though, were belied by reductions in what residential customers in the state pay for natural gas in their homes.
All of the major gas utilities in the state were required to reduce rates based on their purchased-gas agreements, which have been reduced by the plummeting price of gas nationally. Currently, the average cost for 13,000 cubic feet of gas, according to the report, is $110, or 16 percent lower than prices in 2012.
Even Mountaineer Gas, which received approval for $33.7 million in rate increases, saw the average customer bill drop because of the lower gas- purchase price.
While the report doesn't detail any water rate increases, it does point out that West Virginia American Water's ongoing $32.1 million rate request is expected to be ruled on by the PSC by February.
In the most recent legal filings in that case, the PSC staff has recommended that West Virginia American be provided $10.9 million in additional funding. The CAD has recommended a $1.8 million increase.
According to the report, the current cost of West Virginia American water was part of the reason that residents in the company's service territory paid more than residents in other cities in the state.
For instance, Charleston residents currently pay $54.07 for 4,500 gallons of water, and Morgantown, which is served by that city's utility board and has the lowest average utility rates in the state, pays $17.42 for the same amount of water.
According to the CAD report, that price difference, along with the continued rise in electricity rates, are two of the group's primary concerns for the future.
Reach Andrew Brown at andrew.brown@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814 or follow @Andy_Ed_Brown on Twitter.
