CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Appalachian Power, along with Wheeling Power, submitted its Vegetation Management Program (VMP) filing April 29 to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) requesting a 19 percent or $16.3 million reduction in the VMP rate.

The VMP filing reimburses the company for the actual costs to manage vegetation along its power line rights-of-way. The company makes regular filings for adjustments to ensure the amount included in rates accurately reflects past and ongoing expenditures.

“We have more than 20,000 miles of rights-of-way in our heavily-forested West Virginia service area, and managing vegetation along those rights-of-way involves an enormous amount of work,” said Chris Beam, Appalachian Power president and COO. “This filing will allow us to continue managing each mile of our distribution circuits about every five years.”

Currently the monthly bill for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours is $155.66. If approved as filed the adjustment would lower that amount by 1.36 percent or $2.11 beginning September 1, 2022.

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. AEP’s approximately 16,700 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.5 million customers in 11 states. AEP is also one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 5,900 megawatts of renewable energy.