Appalachian Power (APCo) Regulated Rate & rate increases

Appalachian Power (APCo) customer service & quick facts

The official ways to reach Appalachian Power (APCo) for outages, billing, and account help. RateWatchdog is independent and not affiliated with Appalachian Power (APCo) — these are the utility's own channels.

Customer service

1-800-956-4237

Report a power outage

1-800-956-4237

Live outage map →

Pay your bill

Pay Appalachian Power (APCo) bill online →

Start, stop, or move service

Start / stop service →

Verified June 15, 2026 · confirm on Appalachian Power (APCo)'s site

Is Appalachian Power (APCo) a monopoly? Can you switch?

For delivery, yes — it's a monopoly. Appalachian Power (APCo) is the only company that runs the poles and wires to homes in its territory, so you can't pick a different company to deliver your power. That part is a regulated monopoly: Appalachian Power (APCo), owned by American Electric Power (AEP), can only charge what the VA SCC approves in a rate case.

And in Virginia, there's nothing to switch to. Unlike "shopping" states, Virginia doesn't offer residential electric choice — no competitive supplier sells you the electricity. Appalachian Power (APCo) provides both the delivery and the power itself at a single regulated rate the VA SCC approves. Your one real lever is the rate case: that's where Appalachian Power (APCo)'s prices are set, and where you can file a public comment.

How often does Appalachian Power (APCo)'s power go out?

Federal reliability data, reported by the utility to the U.S. government. SAIDI is the average total time a customer is without power in a year; SAIFI is the average number of outages.

For Appalachian Power (APCo), major storms drove roughly 80% of 2024's total outage time — the gap between the two numbers above is weather the utility couldn't fully control.

On normal-day reliability, Appalachian Power (APCo) is the least reliable of the 2 Virginia utilities we track — the range runs from 2 hr 11 min (Dominion Energy Virginia) to 5 hr 42 min (Appalachian Power (APCo)) of typical-day outage time per year.

Source: U.S. EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 reliability data (IEEE 1366 standard), for Appalachian Power Co. eia.gov →

How often does Appalachian Power (APCo) disconnect customers for nonpayment?

Utilities report this to the federal government. It counts residential service disconnected for unpaid bills. A high rate isn't proof of wrongdoing — it's shaped by local poverty, climate, and how strong a state's shutoff-protection rules are, as much as by the utility itself.

That's the lowest disconnection rate of the 2 Virginia utilities we track — the range runs from 9.5 per 100 (Appalachian Power (APCo)) to 15.5 per 100 (Dominion Energy Virginia).

Counts disconnection events — one household can be shut off more than once. From Appalachian Power (APCo)'s own filings to the U.S. EIA (Form EIA-112, Residential Utility Disconnections Survey), first collected for 2024. eia.gov →

Where your bill money goes: how Appalachian Power (APCo) earns its profit

Because Appalachian Power (APCo) is a regulated monopoly, its profit isn't set by competing for customers — it's set by regulators. The VA SCC authorizes a target return on equity (around 9.5% to 10.5% for U.S. electric utilities) on the money it sinks into poles, wires, substations, and meters. It's a target, not a guarantee — a utility can earn above or below it — but a low-risk regulated monopoly reliably lands close. You pay that return back, plus the investment itself, through the delivery charge on every bill.

Appalachian Power (APCo) is owned by American Electric Power. In 2024, American Electric Power reported about $3.0 billion in net income — its profit across all of the utilities it owns, not Appalachian Power (APCo) alone. Source: American Electric Power's annual report (SEC Form 10-K, fiscal year 2024). SEC EDGAR →

That authorized return is set by regulators on the utility's investment — independently of how reliable the service is or how many customers are disconnected, the two measures above.