Clay County, WV (WOAY) – West Virginia House Speaker, Roger Hanshaw, has submitted a letter in opposition to Black Diamond Power Company’s request to increase its rates to pay for a power purchase from Appalachian Power.
Speaker Hanshaw said he is opposed to any rate increases for customers of the power company, which he said has provided inadequate and substandard service, for quote, “Far too long.”
He said the Public Service Commission should reject the company’s petition.
Part of the letter reads, “This case has nothing to do with population density or customer volume in Clay County. It is entirely about Black Diamond Power Company’s failure to deliver adequate service in a protected territory over which it has been granted a monopoly. That failure is unacceptable.”
Another section reads, “The company has failed to maintain its infrastructure and refused to make needed investments and repairs in a timely manner when assets are damaged. Residents and businesses frequently experience service interruption following routine weather events. Healthcare facilities have been forced to rely on backup power alternatives when transformers experienced damage and were not timely replaced by black diamond power company. This neglect of duty and inattention to the needs of customers is inexcusable under a regulatory system that guarantees a monopoly and an operating profit.”
Hanshaw said that Clay County citizens deserve better.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission has already launched an investigation into Black Diamond, an electricity provider in Clay, Wyoming, and Raleigh counties.
In August, the city of Mullens and the Wyoming County Board of Education filed a complaint against the company, accusing them of price gouging over an $80,000 fee to connect power to a new school.
The Clay County Commission also requested that the PSC begin the investigation and asked that any further rate increases be denied until existing lines, service drops, and related infrastructure at Clay County schools are brought to code and verified by an inspector.
The PSC noted these complaints in its formal order initiating the investigation, saying that a public comment hearing in Clay County on October 14 yielded a number of complaints over power surges, poor service, and mistakes in billing.
A second hearing happened on Tuesday.
Black Diamond must file a response by early next year.
