I am a resident of Berkeley County, West Virginia, specifically in Martinsburg, and since moving here in 2020, I have been burdened with astronomical power bills ranging between $500 - $700 each month, despite being on their economy plan. This is an experience I have never had living in numerous states including New York (one of the states known for having some of the highest rates for utilities) on the east coast. Despite numerous complaints to Potomac Edison each month since 2020 and despite escalating the issue to Potomac Edison’s upper management, nothing has changed.

Even my pleas to the WV public service commission fell on deaf ears.  They simply took Potomac Edison’s word for it that they looked into it and that their prices and bills were accurate. The WV Public Service Commission, the state level agency charged with protecting us as residents and consumers from this exact problem of unfair billing by a utility company, just took Potomac Edison’s word for it and did no investigation at all, not to mention the fact that the representative from the WV Public Service Commission basically did everything she could to rush me off the phone when I first called to complain and on follow up calls, as if my complaint was a nuisance to her.

For example, in 2021, I was GONE out of state for training for 3 MONTHS and before I left I turned off everything, emptied my fridge and unplugged it along with unplugging EVERYTHING else in the house, nothing was drawing power and all thermostats were turned off also, no heat or ac running.  There was no one living in the house for those three months.  Despite that, I was still receiving $200-300 power bills for those three months.  That should not be occurring and Potomac Edison did nothing to correct it when I brought it to their attention, they simply said I’d have to pay for my usage.  

One  day I was on the phone with Potomac Edison’s customer service and with their representative on the phone I turned off the main breaker in my house and went to go look at my meter.  IT KEPT RUNNING, DESPITE THE MAIN BREAKER BEING TURNED OFF!!! ( For those not familiar, when the main breaker is shut off, the meter should not run at all because it disconnects the house from the meter and from the power). While this was happening their meter reader actually happened to show up and I showed him, and he confirmed it to the customer service rep on the phone with me. I requested they send out a technician during a time while I was home so I could show them and they could fix the issue. They said they would. Instead they sent one without notifying me and he came while I was at work and said he looked at it and everything was working fine. He stated that he checked it and that it was working fine.  However he was not able to get into my home to disconnect the main breaker to check it because I was not there to let him in. It was a flat out lie. You Can’t check what you don’t have access to.

They do these types of things to customers all the time and there’s nowhere local for us to go to complain because their company is based out of Ohio and their service department yard locally doesn’t let the public in or take complaints. 

This is not just my story but a shared experience of the majority of residents who are customers of Potomac Edison in West Virginia. The rates we are charged and bills we receive are not only exorbitant but also unjustifiable when compared to other regions which are known for higher utility bills. 

We demand that our state and local governments look into these unfair practices by Potomac Edison and take necessary actions to regulate their rates. It's high time that we stop being exploited for basic utilities like electricity which is an essential need for every household.

We urge you to stand with us in this fight against unjustified high electricity bills by signing this petition. Let's make our voices heard so that no more hardworking citizens fall victim to such exploitative practices.