Virginia customers to receive one-time tax credit from Apco due to federal corporate tax reform
ROANOKE – Beginning today, eligible Appalachian Power customers in Virginia will receive a one-time credit to return $22 million in savings associated with federal corporate tax reform.
A Virginia residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month could see a credit of about $22.50 which will be deducted during this month’s billing cycle from the customer’s current charges. Individual credits will depend on the account’s historical energy usage.
The credit will be shown on a customer’s bill under Line Item Charges as “PUR-2018-00054-One Time Tax Credit.”
Virginia customers have seen other benefits as a result of 2017 legislation reducing federal corporate taxes.
Effective Jan. 1, 2018, the federal corporate income tax rate was reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent. The Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) then required utilities to preserve any savings from the tax cut to benefit customers.
Prior to implementing this $22 million one-time credit, Appalachian Power reduced its Virginia retail base rates by $80 million on an annual basis, adjusting for the estimated change in taxes. The company also independently sought and received SCC approval to offset increases in fuel costs by accelerating the return of an additional $55 million associated with the tax cut prior to last winter.
Currently, the estimated bill for a Virginia residential customer using 1,000 kWh in a month is $110.79, or about 11.1₵/kWh. The U.S. average is 13.16₵/kWh according to Edison Electric Institute, for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2018.
Appalachian Power has 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power, one of the largest electric companies in the United States. AEP is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to customers. AEP’s more than 18,000 employees operate and maintain the nation’s largest electricity transmission system and more than 219,000 miles of distribution lines to efficiently deliver safe, reliable power to nearly 5.4 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is one of the nation’s largest electricity producers with approximately 32,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity, including 4,340 megawatts of renewable energy.
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