RICHMOND, Va. – State Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, said he is “deeply disappointed” that a bill he proposed in the Virginia General Assembly to give Appalachian Electric Power (AEP) customers options on providers failed to advance out of a Senate committee.
Senate Bill 1281, the AEP Accountability Act, would have tightened the reins on AEP’s rate increases, allowing customers to find alternative electricity providers if rate hikes reach a certain threshold.
But the bill failed to advance out of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on an 8-7 vote today.
“I am deeply disappointed in the vote to defeat my commonsense legislation to allow greater freedom for Appalachian Power customers,” Hackworth posted online. “The people in Southwest Virginia are hurting. We need relief and we need it now.”
Hackworth has made another proposal for relief.
“This afternoon, I proposed a limited pilot program that would allow local governments to aggregate their locality’s customers together and select a licensed supplier to provide their power generation. This pilot program would provide meaningful relief.”
Hackworth said the fight isn’t over and AEP needs to listen to the cries of customers and work with legislators to bring rates down to the levels of their competitors.
On the House side, Del. James W. “Will” Morefield, R-Tazewell County, is sponsoring House Bill 2665, which would freeze rate requests from AEP for two years and allow citizen recommendations to be considered by the State Corporation Commission before a decision is made on any future requests.
Morefield said he is also disappointed the Senate bill did not advance, and his bill has not yet been docketed.
“Hopefully, we will have more information within the next day or two,” he said of the bill being assigned to a House committee.
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