Appalachian Power today launched a public education campaign to inform consumers about steps they can take to reduce their electricity usage this winter. The campaign also provides customers with information about the driving forces behind rate increases in recent years.

“We think our customers deserve a straightforward explanation of why electricity costs more than it used to,” said Charles Patton, Appalachian Power president and COO. We want our customers to understand what’s going on with rates and let them know that we have ways to help them manage their bills.”

One part of the campaign will involve paid media. While the campaign provides only a sample of the actions that customers can take to make their homes more energy efficient, much more information is available on the company’s website, AppalachianPower.com, or is easily obtained by calling Appalachian Power. Customers will be encouraged to know that many changes they can make do not cost anything or are extremely inexpensive.

For decades Appalachian Power’s electric rates were among the lowest in the country. While customers benefited from low rates, cheap energy also served as a disincentive for customers to invest in energy-efficient appliances or improve the efficiency of their homes. The result can be seen in electric consumption that is higher than the national average throughout Appalachian’s service territory.

Investments in environmental controls to meet federal regulations, fluctuating coal prices and growing costs from acquiring additional power to meet customers’ demands have caused Appalachian’s rates to rise in the last several years. However, they are still lower than other utilities in the region and well below the national average.

Through a combination of the company’s aggressive and ongoing efforts to manage costs and customers’ efforts to manage usage, Appalachian believes that the cost of electricity can remain affordable.

“This is an issue that requires collaboration between customer and company,” Patton said. “For our part, we have made an absolute commitment to do everything we can to manage our costs, and to provide our customers with the information they need to do the same.”

The campaign will include advertisements on television, radio and newspapers and will run into December.

Appalachian Power provides electricity to 1 million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee (as AEP Appalachian Power). It is a unit of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, with more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.