Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993 TAG: 9303090090
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
APCO TEST PLANS OK'D UTILITY TO LAUNCH 5 CONSERVATION EXPERIMENTS
Virginia's State Corporation Commission has authorized a one-year test by Appalachian Power Co. of five experimental programs to conserve electricity. Approval was given over requests by environmentalists for a public hearing on the plan. Apco was ordered to file an analysis of the programs within 12 months.The programs for high-efficiency light bulbs, weatherization, water heater wrap and energy-saving shower heads, upgrading mobile-home heating and upgrading fluorescent lighting will be offered in selected areas.
A storage water-heater program is to be considered as an issue in Apco's general rate increase to be heard by the SCC on May 18.
The SCC said it didn't consider it necessary to hold a public hearing on the programs, although the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville and Craig County opponents of Apco's planned high-voltage line from West Virginia had asked for one.
The SCC authorization "permits us to help customers use energy more efficiently," said Don Johnson, an Apco spokesman.
But Grover Mitchell, a Craig County opponent of Apco's proposed 765,000-volt line, said the SCC has not gone far enough. The agency should encourage utilities to offer incentives for energy conservation that would allow them the same income as for the sale of electricity, he said.
In California and Northeastern states, he said, state regulators let utilities include in their rate bases the lost revenue for electricity they can't sell. "They don't sell it because people don't need it," he said.
In Virginia, Mitchell said, "we need to get the profits tied to meeting the energy needs of the state rather than to kilowatt hours sold."
Mitchell spoke for two organizations - the Citizens for the Preservation of Craig County and ARCS, an umbrella group of power line opponents - that want Apco and the SCC to take energy conservation further.
Conservation "is a splendid alternative to building the line. If we practiced any energy conservation, we wouldn't be dreaming of the line," Mitchell said.
One problem the SCC hasn't solved is how to measure the cost benefits of the conservation, said Ken Schrad of the SCC. "How do we know whether it's good or detrimental for the ratepayers?"
An SCC task force is taking comments on the measurement process. The agency will not approve any permanent programs until a measurement is determined, he said.
Johnson of Apco said the experimental programs, proposed by the utility in October, are "the latest in a long history by the company of seeking effective energy conservation and load management programs."
The Southern Environmental Law Center generally supported Apco's proposal, but suggested the programs be expanded from pilot to full-scale status.
"We agree with the SCC on the value of testing pilot programs prior to full-scale implementation," Johnson said.
Commonwealth Gas Services, a Richmond-based distributor of natural gas, said Apco should give customers information on alternative methods of mobile-home heating. But the SCC said gas companies can do this through their own marketing departments.
Apco is offering to pay up to $5 for the purchase of high-efficiency light bulbs to customers in its Roanoke division. Assistance of up to $1,000 will be given for weatherization of up to 150 low-income homes. Water heater wraps and energy-saving shower heads will be installed in up to 2,500 Virginia homes in its Bluefield division. Apco will pay up to $700 for heat pumps in 375 Abingdon division mobile homes. And a lower, experimental rate is proposed for the first 500 eligible customers who apply for high-efficiency hot water tanks.