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

DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993                   TAG: 9307300240
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

APCO, VA. POWER SET MORE RECORDS

Appalachian Power Co. and Virginia Power set all-time summer peaks Wednesday - for the third time this month. Apco, which has customers from Lynchburg to Huntington, W.Va., surpassed its record for the second day in a row.

According to a statement from Apco, the company's customers used a record 5,392,000 kilowatts (5,392 megawatts) of electricity on Wednesday during the hour ending at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday, Apco customers used 5,155,000 kilowatts between 4 and 5 p.m., which broke the previous record of 5,131,000 kilowatts set July 13.

"It's not unusual to peak three times during a month if the weather is hot for a long time," Apco spokeswoman Victoria Ratcliff said.

While Apco, whose demand reaches a peak in winter, expects to have no trouble providing enough power, increased electrical use will result in higher bills for the month.

Virginia Power, which sells electricity in portions of Alleghany, Bath, Bedford, Botetourt and Rockbridge counties, measures uses in megawatts rather than kilowatts. Demand by its customers reached 13,304 megawatts Wednesday between 5 and 6 p.m. The previous all-time peak of 13,295 megawatts was set July 9, which broke the record of 13,105 set the previous day.

Wednesday was the sixth time this month that demand has surpassed 13,000 megawatts. One megawatt is one million watts - enough power to light 10,000 light bulbs of 100 watts.

by CNB