As West Virginians struggle to keep up with the rising power bills, some are considering using solar. However, the proposal by Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power to cut its solar credit may be discouraging.
As electricity rates continue to soar, some businesses, homeowners and organizations across West Virginia have been supplementing with solar to save money. But under a proposal by utility companies, people could lose that option.
Currently, Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power credit solar customers for the excess energy they generate at the same rate the two companies charge for power, a policy known as net metering. That credit helps offset the cost of installing solar systems. However, the utilities are now asking the state regulators to reduce the credit by almost 70%.
This comes as the companies are also asking regulators for a rate increase, which has been met with outrage by West Virginians already struggling to keep up with the rising power costs.
Under this request, the average monthly bill for residential customers would increase by $27.15 or roughly 16%. The two companies serve about 460,000 customers, primarily across the southern half of the state.
The companies said that their request comes as their current rates no longer support the $1.3 billion investments the utilities have made and will continue to make to provide customers with safe and reliable service.
Those investments included work at Appalachian Power’s three coal fired power plants to comply with federal regulations and ensure the companies “are able to keep the plants running into the next decade,” Karen Wissing, a spokesperson for Appalachian Power, wrote in an email.
The proposed changes to the companies’ solar credit has also left some concerned and frustrated as it would significantly reduce the potential savings through solar for future customers and further limit the few resources available to mitigate the rising power costs in the state.
Discouraging new solar customers
Since helping install solar on their church in 2024, Revs. Nancy Woodworth-Hill and Donald Hill have been fielding questions from other parishes that are part of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia and interested in saving on their power bills.
Using solar to augment its power supply saves the Lawrencefield Parish Church, right outside of Wheeling, over a hundred dollars each month on their electricity bill, Woodward-Hill said. And over the course of the solar system’s 25 to 30 year lifetime, the church is estimated to save more than $77,000 — money they can use elsewhere.
“We are a small parish, so the sustainability into the future of the parish also came into factoring of it,” said Woodward-Hill.
But, the proposed cuts to the solar credit could discourage other parishes from investing, the couple said.
Right now, customers sell their surplus solar energy back to the electric company at market value — the same price the power companies charge other customers for their electricity. But under their proposal, Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power are asking to credit solar customers at a “wholesale rate” of $0.0574 per kilowatt hour.
“We propose restructuring the net metering policy for future solar customers to prevent non-solar customers from subsidizing the energy costs of solar customers,” said Wissing.
The companies “believe that this proposed policy represents a more equitable alternative to the current arrangement,” she added.
Cost-benefit analyses have found that the current method of net metering imposes no significant increase for non-solar ratepayers and that the economic benefits outweigh the costs, according to the Brookings Institute.
Current solar unaffected, alternative rates proposed
Under the proposal, current solar customers would be grandfathered into the current structure for 25 years. Any new solar customers would be credited at the reduced rate.
Two of West Virginia’s other electricity providers previously asked the PSC to adjust the amount they credit new solar customers for their energy. The commission approved that change in 2024.
In Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s case, staff at the Public Service Commission suggested an alternative rate of $0.124 to credit solar customers — more than double the amount the companies proposed.
“What the staff proposed is much more in line with what we believe to be a fair rate,” said Heather Ransom, director of marketing and storytelling at West Virginia solar installation company Solar Holler.
The full credit amount is “obviously what we’re pushing for and what reflects the true value of solar,” she said. “So, we’re kind of just waiting to see what the commissioners decide.”
The PSC is expected to rule on the companies’ request sometime in August.