{Charleston, West Virginia}...The West Virginia Public Service Commission has set hearings for Monday and Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. at the PSC offices in Charleston to hear from Appalachian Power Company officials as to what the utility is paying for coal to produce electricity. Each year, the company can ask to be reimbursed for the cost of purchasing coal, but Appalachian Power did not seek an increase in rates when it made this year's fuel case filing in March. That's because the company is preparing another case where it will ask the PSC to allow it to sell bonds to help it pay off an estimated $300 million coal cost debt that's been building for the past few years. The state legislature passed a bill in March to give the utility the option. Appalachian Power said at the time that, without a way to spread the debt costs out over several years, rates would have increased by as much 40 percent, possibly more. To pay back the bonds, the company plans to use money from regular rates.
