Sherry Parsons usually sits in the dark, moving through her house by the orange glow of two nightlights and a blue lamp over her terrarium. She keeps her refrigerator on a low cool setting and warms her legs by wrapping them in a heated blanket, a gift from her late brother.
“He said, ‘You’re not going to sit up there and freeze to death.’ I said, ‘John, I can’t afford electric bills,’” said Parsons, 64.
Parsons lives in St. Charles, a former coal town in Lee County and one of the communities serviced by Old Dominion Power, a subsidiary of Kentucky Utilities that provides electricity to more than 28,000 Virginia customers in Dickenson, Wise, Russell, Lee and Scott counties.
On Nov. 12, state regulators will hear the company’s case for raising its base rates by 23% on or after Feb. 1, which would result in a $43 increase on the monthly bill of an average customer. Old Dominion Power officials have said the additional revenue is needed to cover “continuous significant investments in its facilities to provide safe, reliable access to energy at the lowest reasonable cost in accordance with applicable environmental regulations.”
The utility said in an emailed statement to Cardinal News on Monday that system enhancements will “defend against stronger, more frequent storms we’re experiencing across the areas we serve, support customers’ increased energy needs and enhance our customers’ experience when doing business with us.”
Even when she drapes blankets over doors and cracks her windows to capture the warmth on a mild day, Parsons’ bill can go up to $300 during the winter months. If the increase is approved, she’s not sure what else she can cut back on — she said she already skips meals, stays home and rolls some of her own cigarettes to save money.
“I don’t know what else to do. I’m not going to have extra money to go get bread and bologna. I tried potted meat,” she said, “and coffee, oh my goodness, coffee has went out the roof.”
Parsons works as a cook at St. Charles Elementary School, and several of the 200 public comments to the State Corporation Commission urging against the increase were staff members with Lee County Public Schools. All but one of the county’s schools are customers of Old Dominion Power, Superintendent Brian Dean said in an email to staff, writing that the increase would force the division to pay more for electrical services and less for salaries and supplies.
The division spends about $500,000 annually on utilities, and Dean said the increase could result in $115,000 in additional annual expenses.
“Every additional dollar we spend keeping the lights on and our buildings operating is a dollar we cannot invest in our teachers, our classrooms and, ultimately, our students,” he wrote in an email response to a request for comment from Cardinal News, emphasizing that the district is already experiencing financial strain.
‘That is the bill I dread’
Parsons said she wrote a comment to the state commission opposing the rate hike because her neighbor, Athina Witt, asked if she did. Witt also works for the school system as a teacher’s aide at Pennington Middle School. They live across from each other in the last two houses on a road in St. Charles, where Witt’s house gets the morning sun and the evening light falls through Parsons’ windows.
Witt, 48, paid $465 for her electric bill in September. She said she and her husband will do their best to keep the heat off during the winter months, when their bill can approach $600, especially if the increase happens. Witt blow-dries plastic to her windows to help insulate her 1940s home and traps heat from small heaters by hanging blankets.
One day last week, they sat at Parsons’ kitchen table after work, talking about what the increase would mean. Between car payments, insurance premiums and medical bills, they wondered what justifies a 23% hike.
“It’s either you pay your electric bill, or …” said Parsons.
“You freeze,” Witt cut in.
“Or…” Parsons started.
“You don’t eat or get medicine,” Witt finished.
They talked about families they see struggling at school, their elderly and disabled neighbors on fixed incomes and small businesses that are already strained. Lee County has about 22,000 people, and 28% live below the federal poverty level. Nearly 18% are food insecure, one of the highest numbers in the state, according to the Rural Opportunity Dashboard. The unemployment rate is 4.8% and the median household income is less than $42,000 per year, according to the U.S. Census.
Both women have adult children who are struggling to pay their bills — Witt’s daughter and her four kids sleep downstairs during the winter months so they don’t have to pay to heat both floors.
They’re also thinking about alternative heating options for their homes this winter. A few years ago, Parsons qualified to have her home weatherized, which gave her a heat pump after years of buying stoker coal and using propane heaters. She said she might start purchasing propane again to lower her bill.
“I just, I don’t see it. We struggle too bad when it does go up every month. … I’m just holding my breath because that is the bill I dread,” said Witt.
She moved to the area from Knoxville almost two decades ago, seeking more affordability on a whim, she added.
“The cost of living was cheaper then. It don’t seem very cheap anymore,” she said.
Public comments to state regulators said much of the same, particularly that Southwest Virginia residents cannot afford such an increase. Last year, the company raised rates by 11.2%, increasing the average residential bill by $17.63 per month.
One commenter told of paying $1,300 on a budget plan in July. Robyn Lee, who lives in Norton, said in an interview that her bill is $450 in the summer and doubles in the winter, which is an impossible payment to make when her husband can’t find a new job.
“Our neighbor is over three months behind. He has two small children and works full time,” Lee added. “We’re barely getting by as it is — 23%, there is no way.”
Aaron Wiggins, a resident of Wise County, wrote to the state: “Our area has been hit extremely hard in recent years with a decline in jobs, higher taxes, inflation, hurricane recovery and the decline of the coal industry … I urge caution and at the least a reduction in the proposed increase be considered.”
Old Dominion Power also said on Monday that it has a new online portal called My Meter that provides customers with budget payment plans and self-serve options so customers can receive support at any time.
The state is accepting public comments on the increase through Thursday. Members of the public who wish to speak at the hearing, in Richmond or remotely, can sign up before Thursday.
