Appalachian Power Co. is asking state regulators for permission to charge customers for costs associated with developing a site for a potential small modular nuclear reactor at the company’s Joshua Falls property in Campbell County.
If the request is approved, the average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would see a monthly bill increase of $1.98, or about 2%, from October 2027 through September 2028.
That would enable the power company to recover $20.6 million in the first of the six years that it anticipates financing the project. The company said in its application that it anticipates site development will cost approximately $100 million; a state law passed in 2024 caps the amount that the utility could recover from customers at $125 million total…