The State Corporation Commission (SCC) will receive public witness testimony by telephone on September 14, 2020, on an Appalachian Power Company rate filing that seeks a $65 million increase in annual operating revenue.
Appalachian Power filed its application on March 31, 2020. The company estimates its request would result in an increase in residential rates by approximately 6.5%. For a residential customer with monthly usage of 1,000 kilowatt-hours, that is about $10 per month.
The company’s rate case also includes a financial review by the SCC of the company’s earnings, rates, and other issues associated with providing electric service to 532,000 Virginia customers in southwest Virginia over the three-year period of 2017 through 2019. Pre-filed testimony by case participants differs as to the necessity of the rate increase. If an increase is warranted, its earliest implementation would be late January 2021.
The Commission hearing begins at 1 p.m. on Monday, September 14. Public witnesses intending to provide oral testimony must pre-register with the SCC by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9.
Witnesses will be called by SCC staff on September 14 in the order in which they registered. Testimony is limited to five minutes. The hearing will be webcast at:Â https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting.
To provide testimony, public witnesses must pre-register in one of three ways:
*Completing a public witness form for case number PUR-2020-00015 on the SCC’s website at: https://scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting;
*E-mailing the same form (PDF version on the same website as above) to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or
*Calling the SCC at 804-371-9141 during normal business hours (8:15 a.m. – 5 p.m.) and providing the name and phone number the Commission should dial to reach you during the hearing.
Those who prefer to submit comments in writing may do so electronically by September 8, 2020, at the SCC’s website at https://scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. Find the comment box for case number PUR-2020-00015 and hit the SUBMIT COMMENTS button.
