I’ve said it before I do a whole day’s work for a minute and a half air time on the news.
This can make it very challenging to tell complicated stories like today—- uncovering that Appalachian Power customers in Virginia are paying more than their counterparts in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
I got a valuable assist from Jay Warren on this story. He was able to provide important perspective and hammer out the details on comparisons with Ohio and Tennessee.
The bottom line is—- figuring out why you’re electric bills are so high is sometimes a complex issue.
For some of you, it may be a combination of a cold winter and a bad heat pump.
For most others—- it’s like finding the right combination to solve a rubix cube.
You’ve got ApCo, which should be allowed to make a profit.
You’ve got federal environmental regulations, which of course help clean up our planet but let’s face it, it’s also a tax since utility companies raise our rates to help pay for it.
And I’m not complaining about that. If we want a cleaner planet, we’re gonna have to pay for it.
You’ve also got the State Corporation Commission’s role in regulating utilities like ApCo.
And the Virginia state legislature.
It changed a few rules in 2007 which some say led to some of the rate increases we’ve been seeing since.
Other key players include Northern and Eastern Virginia behemoth Dominion Power and its influence in Richmond, which sometimes has implications for us here.
What I’m saying is this is a complicated issue which requires homework.
Don’t take my word for it.
Don’t take ApCo’s word for it.
And don’t take ApCo’s many critics word for it.
Do some research and decide for yourself.
Then I think you’ll understand the complexion I’m talking about.
Posted by Scott Leamon at 07:46 PM. Filed under: leamon •
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