by Kate Shunney
Electric bills going to county residents rose in startling increments in the last two months and some say it’s not all due to this winter’s frigid temperatures.
Online forums have attracted hundreds of comments from Morgan County folks who report their electric bills anywhere from doubled to tripled in recent months. A few commenters said their bills went down after the deep and extended cold in January was over, but most claim a sudden and sharp increase they found tough to explain.
One Berkeley Springs resident shared that his electric bill went to over $400 the last two months for a 1,300-sq.ft. residence that uses little electricity for appliances, with heat kept at 70 degrees.
“I routinely turn off lights in my home when going from room to room (my parents were brought up in the Great Depression and taught me how to be economically efficient when dealing with electricity),” he wrote in a complaint letter to Governor Patrick Morrisey recently.
In talking with others, he heard stories of a household that was 2000-sq.ft with four people in the residence and heavy usage of hot water for appliances, with a bill of $420 per month.
Some people on social media described bills of $700 and up for a single month. 
Rate increase
Potomac Edison, the local electricity utility operating under the parent company First Energy, is the provider of electricity in Morgan County and nearby.
The company has sought and had state approval for rate increases since last year.
According to a spokesman for Potomac Edison, the company raised its rates in March 2024 by 11.4% — on average an increase of $14.08 per month for the average residential customer, “due to a base rate review settlement approved by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia and another settlement, also approved by the commission, regarding increased fuel and purchased power expenses.”
That rate increase followed a January 2024 rate hike of 2.75% which the company said was largely connected to an increase in the vegetation management surcharge on electric bills. That showed up as an average monthly bill increase of $3.30 for residential customers.
Also starting in January 1, 2025, the PSC authorized Potomac Edison to charge their electric customers $2.47 per month for vegetation management – the company’s program to keep electric line rights of way clear of trees and plants.
Potomac Edison sells power to roughly 285,000 customers in seven counties in Maryland and 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Historic demand
Will Boye, company spokesman, said January temperatures set a new record for winter electricity demand – grid operator PJM Interconnection reported a demand of 145,000 megawatts.
“This was due to extreme cold weather and increased demand across PJM’s 13-state region, which includes West Virginia,” he said in an email.
Other factors at work in high bills and energy usage could be tied to an inability of Potomac Edison meter readers to reach customers’ homes to take an actual reading during extreme weather.
“In cases of severe weather or when meter access is restricted, a customer’s bill may be based on an estimated reading. Estimated readings rely on historical energy usage, adjusted for current weather conditions. This can sometimes result in bills that are higher or lower than your actual usage. Any difference between estimated usage and actual usage is automatically adjusted the next time the meter is read,” the company said.
Customers can submit their own meter reading to have accurate billing.
More information on how to locate the meter and submit a reading can be found on the First Energy website at www.firstenergycorp.com/help/billingpayments/meter_reading.html.
Some have suggested looking at older appliances to see if it’s time to upgrade to more efficient models, and to clean furnaces and air filters to maximize efficiency when the weather is cold.
Even as temperatures warm up, many local residents are still paying off power bills from previous months, having to carry a balance from the sudden increase they weren’t expecting.
