ROANOKE, Va. – Appalachian Power’s contract with public authority (PA) customers in its Virginia service territory is complete and includes access to renewable energy programs and other innovative services. Schools and government entities are considered PA customers, and their representatives recently received a copy of the new contract to review and sign.  

“We’re extremely pleased with the outcome of the negotiations,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and chief operating officer. “The contract reflects our commitment to provide reliable electric service at a reasonable price to our public authority customers during the transition to a 100 percent renewable future.”

The Virginia Municipal League (VML) and Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) represented PA customers during negotiations with Appalachian Power. The four-year contract not only formalizes rates and terms of electric service through 2024, but also provides PA customers with access to a variety of renewable energy programs to include net-metering, a State Corporation Commission pilot program for power purchase agreements, and access to the company’s 100 percent renewable Wind, Water and Sunlight rider.

Innovative offerings for electric vehicle charging and LED streetlights were also made available for the first time to public authority customers.

“As a utility, our goal is to provide a safe, reliable, low cost product for PA customers in our Virginia service territory. The terms negotiated with VML and VACo represent our utility’s commitment to our customers,” said Beam.

Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is part of American Electric Power, which is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to our customers. AEP’s approximately 16,800 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 223,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 30,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including more than 5,500 megawatts of renewable energy.