CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - West Virginia state regulators argue Appalachian Power’s reliability is unreasonable.
That argument comes as the West Virginia Public Service Commission considers a request from Appalachian Power and sister company Wheeling Power to change measuring sticks for how electric reliability is measured.
Not so fast, said PSC staff in a recent, strongly-worded memo.
“Staff does not recommend that the Companies’ practices or reliability targets be revised to allow either a more frequent number of outages or lengthier duration of outages,” the Sept. 27 memo states. “Staff finds the Companies’ reliability to be unreasonable as it is.”
Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power in May petitioned the PSC for more leniency in how the PSC determines if the electricity service customers receive is reliable.
The staff memo states Appalachian Power regularly meets the target for minimum outages, but found the company has missed the minimum mark on how long those outages last by two measurements in at least four of the past six years.
Additionally, the staff memo found electric reliability ranks poorly in West Virginia as compared with Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.
The memo warns staff is poised to call for an investigation and help with enforcement should Appalachian and Wheeling Power’s reliability remain unreasonable.
Otherwise, staff recommends the companies be required to fill existing vacancies in distribution service positions, detail equipment-failure outages and give more progress reports among other items.
The companies, in their initial petition, spelled out a plan for improvement that includes increased inspections and new ways to clear vegetation.
WSAZ reached out to the companies for comment but received no response.
Late afternoon Tuesday, the companies asked for an extra 10 days to respond to the PSC staff memo. The request said distribution and transmission employees, who are needed to review the recommendations, have been diverted to restoration efforts with Hurricane Helene.
If the delay is granted, the companies’ response would be due by Oct. 17.
Just last month, the PSC dismissed a proposed rate increase for Appalachian and Wheeling Power, saying the companies did not provide key information in its request.