Posted on 05/30/2018 3:29:24 PM PDT by buckalfa
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Appalachian Power Company saved $235 million dollars from the federal tax cuts and the company is proposing passing the money back to its customers in a variety of ways.
The multi-pronged proposal is in a filing with the state Public Service Commission due Wednesday. The PSC is requiring all utilities to tell it their tax ts West Virginia Consumer Advocate Jackie Roberts told MetroNews the money clearly belongs to the customers.
“They (the utilities) had taxes in their rates and now the taxes in their rates have significantly decreased—so they shouldn’t be able to keep collecting and keeping those higher taxes in their rates,” Roberts said.
Appalachian Power Company Communications Director Jeri Matheney agrees–the $235 million Appalachian Power will save belongs to its customers.
“It is customer money. What we propose to do is provide a method to keep rates as stable as possible over the longterm and as much as possible eliminate the need for rate increases,” Matheney said.
The Appalachian Power distribution proposal for West Virginia customers includes:
–$131 million to completely offset the company’s fuel and vegetation control program funding request that was part of an April filing with the PSC
–$19 million reduction in the company’s base rate case filed earlier this month (taking the $115 million request down to $96 million)
–$51 million to reduce next year’s fuel recovery cost rate case
–$1 million for a pilot economic development grant program
–$30.1 million to return to customers over the next three years
Matheney said Appalachian Power believes these are better options for the tax cut money.
“It makes more sense to use those tax reform dollars to reduce or eliminate the need for rate increases than it does to return tax dollars to customers while at the same time raise customer rates,” Matheney said.
The $1 million pilot program is an effort to help economic development groups recruit new businesses, which Matheney said would help the economy and the company.
Another large West Virginia utility, West Virginia American Water Company, indicated in its filing it will save $10.5 million a year. The savings is also indicated in the company’s latest rate case filing.
“We will work with the Public Service Commission and other stakeholders to address the 2017 Tax Act’s impact on customer rates,” WVAWC spokesperson Laura Martin told MetroNews.
Roberts said the Consumer Advocates Division will be reviewing the filings from all of the utilities to make sure they’ve calculated their savings correctly and to make sure customers receive the most benefit. She said utilities may try and get creative.
“It’s not their money and they shouldn’t get to keep it,” Roberts said.
General testimony from the utilities was due to be filed with the PSC at the end of the day Wednesday. A response filing from the PSC staff and other parties are due July 2.
Crumbs. Is what I says. (You know, if I’m Nancy Pelosi)
Normally, we see a credit in April but didn’t see it last month. Somehow I never get perks everyone else does.
I have just finished reviewing the family’s investment portfolio and comparing thirty Value Line write-ups. In all but two cases the Value Line write-up made a comment about the positive impact of the tax cuts. Large multinational companies were bringing back to the states billions of dollars as the new tax structure made it profitable to do so, as they can now reinvest in the US as opposed to abroad. In most cases the write-up said the companies were adding billions of dollars to their bottom lines which was being, variously and in different proportions, returned to investors and invested in growth or new products. One company where the company’s response to the tax cut tanked their stock 16 points was Kroger, who announced they’d split the tax benefit three ways, to shareholders, employees and customers. This is a low margin business under huge pressure from Walmart and Amazon and the stockholders were hoping that the windfall would be used to address other pressing problems. The other company that didn’t fare very well was Lowe’s which adjusted its earnings up, but didn’t address the tax issue. It’s not clear from the write-up why this was bad but VL said, “The stockholders appear to be wanting more.” In addition, Lowe’s is not doing well against arch rival Home Depot.
The point is that in every case the tax cut figured prominently and often to the tune of billions of dollars. Almost every write-up made note of what the company planned to do with the money and it was (Except for Kroger and Lowe’s) entirely positive. No wonder the entire market has gone up.
So much for “crumbs.”
>>>It’s not their(utility companies) money and they shouldn’t get to keep it,” Roberts said. What say you ?
I agree. The rates that public utility commission generally allow are some percentage above the utility’s costs. If the cost of taxes is reduced, then the rates should come down.
Because utility companies are a regulated industry, their profit is capped. This is why a lot of people are getting power refunds from their utilities. Yes, people are getting refunds, some quite large.
Plenty of articles about it here: https://www.google.com/search?client=avast&q=utilities+paying+refunds
“Yes, people are getting refunds, some quite large.”
Not in Corruptinois.
British owned National Grid Gets the big tax break too. And Yet Coumo And his PSC approved the rate hike National Grid requested. So there is nothing but higher bills for National Grid folks. The Brit’s are laughing there butts off and getting rich. Probably a kick back to Coumo somewhere in all of that.
Not in Virginia. I loathe Dominion Energy.
The people of California are being screwed 24/7 by the Liberal hacks in downtown Sacramento thanks to Moonbeam and his band of Liberal thieves. The utility bills keep going up along with gasoline and everything one buys.
On the positive side, the people of California are enraged and big-time pissed. Liberals have overplayed their greedy hands.
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