PITTSBURGH (TNS) — FirstEnergy Corp., the Akron-based parent of West Penn Power, announced that is will file for a rate increase across its Pennsylvania electric utilities.
For the 746,000 customers of West Penn Power, the company is proposing to raise rates by 10.6% for residential customers. That would bring the average monthly bill for such customers to $172.98, a $16.61 increase, if approved.
Commercial customers would see a 4.6% increase, amounting to $61.03 more a month, for an average bill totaling $1,374.25. For industrial customers, the proposed .3% increase would add $1,917.74 a month, with the average monthly bill rising to $642,064.14.
West Penn Power is one of four FirstEnergy utilities in Pennsylvania. In January, all were consolidated under the umbrella of FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Co., but, under a settlement accompanying the consolidation, each division will have its own rates for at least the next five years. FirstEnergy said merging its Pennsylvania utilities into a single entity would bring down costs across the enterprise, allowing the company to borrow money at cheaper rates and reduce corporate and legal overlap.
The current rate case is expected to be filed on Tuesday with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which will order an investigation of the proposed new rate regime that’s likely to last the better part of a year and will include public hearings.
Rate cases typically end in settlements between utilities and stakeholders, including consumer groups that might oppose the rate increases. In the end, the PUC usually approves increases lower than the original request.
West Penn last filed a rate case in 2016, asking for a 10.5% rate hike for residential consumers. When the new rates went into effect in 2017, the PUC had approved a 7.14% increase instead.
At that time, the utility signaled that it would be filing more frequent rate cases to compensate for two decades of stagnating rates.
In investor materials in February, FirstEnergy said it is pursuing 9% growth in its rate base across its utilities over the next four years — in addition to Pennsylvania, it has operations in Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, and West Virginia.
In Pennsylvania, it is asking for an extra $502 million in annual revenue.
The company said it needs the extra cash to modernize its electric grid, replace aging equipment, install more energy-efficient street lights, and trim and remove trees from its right of ways.
FirstEnergy also said it would create an energy assistance outreach team to help low income customers get support for their bills; eliminate credit card service fees for those who want to use that as a method for bill payment; and provide rebates for electric vehicle customers to install home chargers.
