Appalachian Power Co electricity rates

It is the dominant supplier in West Virginia, serving 348,946 residential customers, so its pricing effectively sets what the state average looks like. At 16.77¢ per kilowatt-hour it tracks the West Virginia average of 16.80¢ closely, which is what you would expect from a utility large enough to shape that average itself.

Its customers use more electricity than the national norm, 1,106 kilowatt-hours a month against 871, which amplifies whatever the rate does.

A shareholder-owned company whose rates are set by the state regulator, including an approved return on the capital it has invested. That matters because a bill is not only the cost of generating electricity: it also carries the cost of the network, and who owns that network changes how it is paid for.

In 2024 the average Appalachian Power Co customer went 1,832 minutes without electricity across 3.33 interruptions. The median across the 941 utilities that report this is 185 minutes.

That is far worse than typical, and figures at this level almost always reflect a major storm season rather than everyday performance. A single hurricane or ice storm can dominate the annual number.

Appalachian Power Co offers time-of-use pricing to residential customers. 382 households were enrolled, about 0.1% of its residential base.

These plans are opt-in almost everywhere. They reward households that can move laundry, dishwashing, water heating or electric vehicle charging out of the late-afternoon peak, and they cost more than the standard rate for households that cannot. How to tell which group you are in.

1,545 residential customers had net-metered solar in 2024, totalling 14.11 megawatts. That works out to 4.4 installations per thousand customers, against a median of 8 across the utilities reporting it.

Adoption is below the national median. A low retail rate reduces what solar displaces, and export compensation set at avoided cost rather than the retail rate reduces it further. What exports are actually worth.