ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 12, 1990                   TAG: 9006120080
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STATE GROWTH CAUSING SURGE IN UTILITY BILLS

Growth in Virginia is creating a demand for more energy and pushing up utility bills to pay for additional power plants, transmission lines and pipelines, utility executives say.

"Virginia, especially the eastern part - Tidewater, Richmond and Northern Virginia - is growing perhaps as fast as any region in the country," said Dick Williams, director of the State Corporation Commission's Division of Economic Research and Development. "We're going to be paying for that growth."

The state's three major utilities and five rural cooperatives are all seeking rate increases this year; Delmarva Power on the Eastern Shore wants a fuel surcharge, and Northern Virginia Natural Gas Co. has asked for a 3 percent increase.

Virginia Power bills this month reflect a 5.3 percent increase, though all or part could be rolled back in October after the SCC reviews the rates. Virginia Natural Gas is seeking a 4.9 percent increase; Commonwealth Gas Services Co. wants 8.9 percent more; Appalachian Power Co. is seeking an increase of more than 8 percent, and Old Dominion Power Co. wants almost 4 percent more. - Associated Press 


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