By Charlotte Lane – West Virginia Public Service Commission
Why our power bills are so much is a constant question we face at the Commission.
And there are no simple answers nor easy solutions.
Time (Jan. 21, 2026) — but verify year; may need to be 2025 told me earlier this year that from 2021 to 2025, electric rates in this country rose nearly 30 percent, far outpacing inflation.
See: 5 Big Reasons Why Electricity Prices Are So High Right Now
From January to October last year, average electric bills increased by nearly 13 percent.
And Time says there is little expectation for changes in the future.
Like you, I am concerned about my power bill. All of us are. I search for ways to reduce my bills, as I am sure you do. I also look for answers.
Inflation is one problem. Things just cost more now than they did five years ago.
Time also credits aging transmission lines and auxiliary structures. The infrastructure of most electric lines in the United States was built in the 1960s and 1970s, and sometimes much before that in West Virginia. Some transmission lines are more than a quarter-century old. They are approaching their life cycle’s end, and they need to be replaced.
The various transmission grids – the largest of which serves West Virginia – are in the same shape. Most of the cost of those upgrades is going to have to be passed on to ratepayers.
Another, and recently exacerbated, problem is tariffs. Many of these upgrades will have to rely on steel and aluminum, most of which we import.
With the administration raising tariffs on several imports, that is going to add to your electricity bill.
According to Time, and I quote here:
Add a closing quotation mark after ‘2024.’
I found this article by Time to be both upsetting and interesting. It at least gives us some idea of what has happened and what we can now expect.
Even with all of these trends, your Public Service Commission does its best to make sure that electricity is affordable.
