CHANGE URGED IN WAY UTILITY RATES ARE REGULATED

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

DATE: SUNDAY, January 3, 1993                   TAG: 9301030104
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO   
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
CHANGE URGED IN WAY UTILITY RATES ARE REGULATED
A state consumer advocate wants to simplify the utility rate increase request process in Virginia, which she says produces "roller coaster rates" customers can't understand.
Recent rulings by the State Corporation Commission and a Virginia Supreme Court decision have seen Virginia Power's bills for electricity cut, raised and refunded.
The SCC decided Tuesday to cut 75 percent from a Virginia Power rate increase that took effect 16 months ago. The decision will mean a refund of $81 for the average residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month. The Richmond-based utility has 1.8 million customers.
However, it also transformed a $139 million rate reduction into a $305 million proposed increase that has been in effect on an interim basis for two months.
"What we end up with are roller coaster rates that are completely incomprehensible to customers," said Jean Ann Fox, president of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council. "This illustrates the need to address the issue in the General Assembly."
A Virginia Supreme Court decision Feb. 28 found the SCC had violated its rules by allowing Virginia Power to propose a new accounting adjustment in an expedited case where the interim rates went into effect 30 days after the request was filed. The court forced the SCC to order a $26 million refund.
Virginia Power responded by filing May 30 for a $165.9 million rate increase, partly because of uncertainty about how the court ruling would apply to two earlier cases.
When the legislature convenes, the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council will intensify its efforts to change state law so rates can't increase without a full investigation by the SCC, Fox said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB