MORGANTOWN – FirstEnergy sisters Mon Power and Potomac Edison are seeking Public Service Commission approval for a proposed rate increase.
They are proposing two options and asking the PSC to choose one or the other for them to pursue. They have asked the PSC to issue an order by May 29 specifying which approach it prefers.
They filed their request late Friday and summarized their options in a Monday press release.
“One is an inflation-based approach that would spread smaller increases over time instead of one larger increase, giving customers more predictability,” they said. “The other is a traditional rate adjustment based on work already completed to strengthen the electric system and includes a proposed program focused on reliability and future infrastructure investments.”
The release said they are asking the PSC “to review electric rates so the companies can keep investing in a safe, reliable electric system that is better prepared for severe weather, while keeping costs in mind.”
Under the “Inflation and Investment Adjustment,” they said, they are proposing an adjustment of $76 million, with annual $38 million adjustments effective August 1, 2026, and June 1, 2027. Under this proposal, they would not seek another rate review until April 2028.
The initial monthly increase for an average residential customer would be $4.12, about 3%. The 2027 increase would be $4.11, about 2.9%.
Under the traditional “Base Rate Adjustment,” the companies propose an adjustment of $188 million. This figure includes funding for a reliability and infrastructure improvement initiative to replace older equipment and add new technology to reduce the number and length of outages, they said.
“It builds on a PSC-approved pilot launched in 2024 that has already cut outage time for customers in rural communities by about four hours a year on average – a 53% reduction.”
This proposed increase would take effect June 14, and would raise an average monthly bill by $19.44, about 13.9%.
The two companies serve about 558,000 customers in West Virginia. Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 counties. Potomac Edison serves about 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle.
Commenting on their inflation-based option, they noted a prior PSC precedent and told the PSC on Friday, “The companies believe there is value to the commission’s approach of trying to keep rates lower than they would be otherwise and to spread rate increases in the interest of gradualism.”
The companies filed their previous rate case in May 2023 and a settlement was announced in January 2024. That was the companies’ first rate case since 2014. They notified the PSC of their plan to pursue this new case on March 9.
In Monday’s release, the companies said, “Under either option, residential customers would continue to pay the lowest rates among West Virginia’s regulated electric utilities. Both proposals would support continued work on power plants, transmission lines and local equipment to help prevent outages and shorten the ones that do happen.
Chris Beam, FirstEnergy’s president of West Virginia and Maryland, said Monday, “Our customers count on us every day, especially when the weather is at its worst. This rate review would help us keep improving an aging system by making it more resilient so we can restore power faster when outages happen. We also know customers are watching costs closely, so we’re focused on making smart investments that improve service and provide long-term value.”
