RICHMOND, Va., October 24, 2014 – Appalachian Power has proposed six new programs that will help its Virginia customers reduce energy usage and demand. The company today filed a request with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) seeking approval for the portfolio of programs that will benefit residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) customers.

“There are two main components to a customer’s electricity bill: the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and how many kilowatt-hours are used,” said James D. Fawcett, Appalachian’s manager of energy efficiency and alternative energy initiatives. “The proposed programs will help customers lower their energy usage.”

“These programs provide the tools to help our customers identify ways to reduce energy usage and also provide financial incentives to install energy-conserving products,” Fawcett added.

Four residential programs have been proposed. The Home Performance Program will provide home assessments and incentives to upgrade the efficiency of the home and achieve long-term energy reduction; the Residential Appliance Recycling Program provides free pick up and cash incentives to owners for removing second refrigerators or freezers from the power grid; a Manufactured Housing Energy Star Program provides incentives to makers of new manufactured housing that will be located in the Appalachian service area if the new homes are built to Energy Star efficiency standards; and a Residential Efficient Products Program will use retail rebates and markdowns to promote the increased use of high-efficiency lighting and appliances.

For C&I customers there will be a Prescriptive Program and a Custom Program. The Prescriptive Program offers financial incentives that are tailored to specific results from the installation of high-efficiency lighting and heating and cooling equipment. The Custom Program will provide rebates to customers for larger energy conservation projects that can be verified by an engineering analysis and certification but are not part of the Prescriptive Program.

Appalachian expects the six programs to save approximately 43,000 megawatt-hours in energy usage—equivalent to the total annual average usage of 3,000 homes—and cost about $6.3 million. The increase will amount to about one-half of a percent in a rate adjustment clause on a customer’s bill.

The SCC will establish a schedule to review the request. If approved, Appalachian expects that implementation of the programs will begin in late 2015.

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 utilities in the United States, which delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.

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