CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission has issued an order in hopes of relieving the anxiety of some state residents while giving utilities some degree of certainty.
According to the order, the utilities, which have been urged by the PSC to discontinue their termination of service to customers who can’t pay their bills during the pandemic, will be able to include those expenses for consideration in future rate cases.
PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said the commission has tried to strike a balance.
“Customers are going to be facing a lot of financial stress and utilities are going to be facing financial stress when customers can’t pay their bills,” Lane told MetroNews.
The utilities will be able to show the PSC during future rate cases what the pandemic has cost them.
“This order will take the stress off customers who are struggling through these difficult times and, at the same time, provide the utilities the ability to seek rate recovery in a future rate proceeding for those additional, extraordinary costs that were prudently incurred,” Lane said.
She said the PSC wants to be proactive.
“We want to tell the public that the utilities are going to work with them to try to help them work out their utility bills.”
Lane said there are many residents who under normal circumstances pay their bills on time haven’t been able to because of job losses during the pandemic.
“The utilities are going to be working with them to work out payment plans and that’s what we want them to do,” Lane said.