RICHMOND — The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has scheduled a public hearing for September 16, 2009 on Allegheny Power’s request to increase the average residential customer’s bill by approximately six percent.

Allegheny says the requested increase in the company’s fuel factor is necessary to cover the higher costs of purchasing power for its Virginia customers. For a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month, the bill would increase by $5.47 to approximately $96.

The SCC set an interim fuel factor at 2.898 cents per kilowatt-hour for residential customers for service rendered on and after July 1. Interim rates are temporary and subject to refund once the SCC issues a final order setting the company’s fuel factor. Allegheny claims the proposed rates are consistent with a Commission-approved agreement reached last year among the company, Office of the Attorney General, Commission staff, and industrial consumers.

A public hearing on the request is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2009. It will be held in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, in downtown Richmond. Any person wishing to comment at the hearing should arrive early and notify the SCC bailiff.

The SCC intends to webcast the audio portion of the hearing via the Internet. Instructions can be found on the SCC website at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case.

Written comments on the proposals must be submitted by September 9, 2009. All correspondence should be sent to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118, and refer to case number PUE-2009-00028.

Interested persons desiring to submit comments electronically may do so at the SCC’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Click on the PUBLIC COMMENTS/NOTICES link and then the SUBMIT COMMENTS button for case number PUE-2009-00028.

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Case Number PUE-2009-00028