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Thousands to get help with late electric bills following PSC pandemic-related order

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission is giving Appalachian Power Company the okay to use money saved in the 2018 federal tax cuts to help thousands of customers who haven’t been able to pay their monthly electric bills because of the pandemic.

The PSC approved a previous request from Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power companies Tuesday.

Phil Moye

Appalachian Power’s Phil Moye said the companies can now use $13 million it has in Fresh Start Funds to help with late power bills. Fresh Start was created after the federal tax cuts of 2018 in which Appalachian Power saved millions of dollars. The money has been used to help low-income customers with their bills.

Moye said approximately 27,000 customers late on their bills since the pandemic started will receive a credit as a result of the PSC’s order.

“Those customers will automatically see a credit on their electric bill. They won’t have to apply for it or anything like that. It will come as a credit with the bill and we’ll be sending out a letter to customers explaining the specifics to them,” Moye told MetroNews.

The amount of the credit will differ per customer. It will be based on the status of the customer’s account and what portion of their past due balance is eligible, Moye said.

“What we’re really trying to do is to see the people who were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic receive some assistance with their electric bills because it’s just one of those things, a lot of people have been affected,” Moye said.

He added many of the customers have not had prior issues.

“With the pandemic we’ve seen a lot of people who have never struggled to pay an electric bill,” Moye said.

Charlotte Lane

PSC Chair Charlotte Lane called the financial impact of the pandemic on utility customers “ongoing and unprecedented” in a Tuesday statement.

“Although the Fresh Start Fund was initially created to assist low-income customers, none of us could have predicted where we find ourselves today,” Lane said. “Many of our fellow West Virginians who have never asked for or needed this kind of assistance, find themselves in unimaginably dire circumstances. It makes perfect sense to allow the use of these funds to help as wide a pool of customers as possible.”





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