Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 12, 1990 TAG: 9005120082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: ELLISTON LENGTH: Long
Outages, some lasting as long as three days, prompted the residents to circulate a petition asking that their electricity be supplied by Appalachian Power Co. instead of their current supplier, Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative in New Castle.
"In the last few years, even before [Hurricane] Hugo, it's really gotten bad," said Richard O. Sarver Jr., who started the petition last October and got about 60 of his neighbors to sign it.
The petition was sent to state Sen. Madison Marye, who represents Montgomery County. He referred the request to the State Corporation Commission, which regulates utility companies.
The residents want out from the cooperative, Marye said, "but the co-op will have to be operating badly for the SCC to allow that switch."
Sarver, who works for Roanoke Electric Steel, started the petition, which is now circulating in Roanoke County, after yet another outage interrupted his dinner last fall. "I got so mad. I said `I've got to do something,' " Sarver said. "The cooperative is a dinosaur."
Sarver, 27, said he and his wife, Tina, lost $70 worth of food during the Hugo outage and they and their two children had no hot water or refrigeration for almost four days in their Bradshaw Road mobile home.
Operations at Craig-Botetourt started in 1938 after President Franklin Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration to bring electricity to the countryside. The rural systems, which buy power from investor-owned power companies, are non-profit and are owned and controlled by their consumers.
The co-op serves approximately 5,000 customers in Giles, Montgomery, Roanoke, Craig, Botetourt and Alleghany counties and in Monroe County, W.Va.
Many households, especially those near Catawba and Fort Lewis mountains, are in areas considered "mountainous regions no one else will serve," said Gerald Groseclose, Craig-Botetourt general manager. "And we have thousands of miles of electrical line."
Groseclose acknowledges the residents' concerns but thinks they do not understand that co-ops have fewer people, higher costs per mile of line, and more rugged terrain than those served by private power companies.
When an outage occurs, co-op workers sometimes must spend more than a day walking the lines to find the cause. The co-op also must spend about 12 percent of its budget to clear tree limbs and other hazards threatening power lines.
The petitioning residents of Elliston understand that Craig-Botetourt has a rough job, but they feel Apco could provide better service. Residents also are unhappy with high rates.
"I'm just disgusted," said Athenee McGuire, 71, who lives on Social Security. "My husband and I have had to go to the bank to borrow money to pay the outrageous rates that co-op charges."
An average monthly bill is about $57, McGuire said, but they've paid about three monthly bills as high as $400 during the winter. She and her husband, James, a carpenter, cook on a wood-burning stove and have a well with an electric pump. McGuire believes that without the stove, which also provides heat, their bills would be higher.
Groseclose said Craig-Botetourt's rates are among the cheapest for co-ops in the state. He estimated that for an average use of 700 kilowatts, the co-op would charge about $65. Apco would charge about $50 for the same service, but it would lose money, he said.
But residents say they are tired of losing food in their freezers, they're sick of resetting their clocks and they don't want children catching colds because the heat went off.
"This year there have been more outages than ever before," said Carol Sanderson, a manager at Lancer Truck Stop off Interstate 81, which buys electricity from the co-op. "When that happens, we can't pump diesel or gas and that hurts business."
Groseclose said the outage time for the average co-op customer is higher than for Apco customers overall, but it's the same for Apco customers who live in mountainous areas.
Although Craig-Botetourt has received many complaints over the years, Groseclose said the petition was prompted by Hurricane Hugo and the damage it caused to the lines.
Last month, Groseclose asked Sarver to serve on Craig-Botetourt's advisory committee and Sarver has accepted. "We have nothing to hide here," said Groseclose of the co-op. "I understand their problems, but I'm proud of what we have done here."
The SCC allows only one utility to serve an area and does not reassign territory unless a valid reason is found.
When the SCC received the petition, its Division of Energy Regulation found that service had been improving since the co-op's report for 1989, which claimed six outages between July and October in the Elliston area. These were caused by lightning, Hurricane Hugo and fallen trees on lines.
"The co-op has assured the commission that they're maintaining the corridor and providing efficient service," said SCC spokesman Ken Schrad. "However, they cannot guarantee service free of outages."
Schrad said the SCC decided not to reassign properties, but will continue to monitor the co-op's sites and service. If the residents, or any customer of a cooperative, does not agree with that decision, the SCC can be petitioned and the public can require a hearing.
"Craig-Botetourt is not a bad operation," Schrad said. "And considering Hugo and the other storms, they're doing pretty good."
by CNB