FirstEnergy subsidiaries, other parties ask regulators to approve rate hike settlement

FirstEnergy's two West Virginia subsidiaries would recover about $63 million annually under a proposed rate increase settlement.

Under the agreement, the monthly bill for a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours would increase from $92.62 to $99.52.

Mon Power and Potomac Energy say the proposed settlement was filed Monday with the West Virginia Public Service Commission. It followed negotiations between the companies and the PSC staff, the PSC's Consumer Advocate Division, the West Virginia Energy Group and Wal-Mart.

The agreement includes a $15 million increase in base rate charges and a $47.5 million surcharge for vegetation management. If the PSC approves the settlement, the increases would go into effect Feb. 25, 2015.

Mon Power serves about 385,500 customers and Potomac Edison serves about 135,000 customers.