Extra Surcharge

West Virginia American Water has informed Charleston City Council and other local governments that it wants to place an extra surcharge on customer’s monthly bills in the near future. The company’s interest in filing the surcharge case with the Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates utilities, comes less than two months after the PSC approved a 15 percent revenue increase for the company, which equals an additional $18.2 million annually. Commissioner Dave Hardy and Commission President Kent Carper said they hope to discuss American Water’s plan at the next commission meeting, and both suggested that the county would seek in intervene in any upcoming surcharge case. Both the county and the city intervened in the 2015 rate case.