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Electric News Releases
November 17, 2000
Dominion Virginia Power Files Request to Recover Increased
Fuel Costs
RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Virginia Power proposed a fuel rate
increase Friday that would slightly raise the bill of a typical residential
customer to cover projected higher fuel prices in 2001.
The company is asking the State Corporation Commission to
approve a total fuel rate increase of $158 million for its Virginia customers,
effective Jan. 1, 2001. If approved by state regulators, the monthly bill of
a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity would
increase by $2.74, or 3.4 percent, from $80.68 to $83.42, beginning Jan. 1.
(Dominion's application and testimonies are available below.)
“Just as consumers have seen sharp increases recently in
the price of natural gas or fuel oil, so has Dominion Virginia Power,” said
Edgar M. Roach, chief executive officer. “Our company expects to pay increasingly
higher prices for fuels to use at our electric generating facilities.”
Dominion Virginia Power uses a balanced mixture of fuels,
including coal, uranium and natural gas, to generate electricity for its nearly
1.9 million customers.
Company forecasters predict an annualized average increase
in natural gas prices of 21 percent from November 1999 through December 2001.
Similarly, the SCC has advised Virginia consumers who heat with natural gas
to expect price increases by as much as 35 percent this winter.
The electric bills of Dominion Virginia Power customers have
two portions: a base rate and a fuel rate. The base rate remains capped until
July 1, 2007, pursuant to the Virginia Electric Utility Restructuring Act of
1999. The fuel rate is a dollar-for-dollar pass-through fee to pay for the fuel
used to produce electricity. Dominion Virginia Power is not permitted to make
a profit on fuel expenses.
The fuel factor request is composed of two parts – a $10
million increase to pay for fuel costs not recovered during this past year through
the current fuel rate and $148 million to recover projected fuel expenses for
the period Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2001.
Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion, one
of the nation’s largest energy companies. Dominion serves 3.8 million retail
natural gas and electric customers in five states. For more information on Dominion,
visit the company's Internet site at www.dom.com.
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View Dominion Virginia Power's application
and testimonies online (requires Adobe
Acrobat reader):
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