Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994 TAG: 9402170184
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Officials from Virginia Power, Appalachian Power Co., Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and the State Corporation Commission are to appear today before the House Committee on Corporations, Insurance and Banking.
The committee wants to know whether the power failures brought on by last week's storm could have been avoided by better maintenance of utility rights of way to prevent tree limbs from falling on electric lines.
"I firmly believe that one of the problems with the extended and widespread outages is that right-of-way maintenance and clearing by utility companies is insufficient," said Del. Frank Hargrove, R-Hanover County.
Hargrove said the SCC "has got to tell these companies this is unacceptable. Every time we have a little windstorm, every time we have a little ice, it puts the whole operation out of business."
"If you've got a 40-foot right of way and an 80-foot pine tree, what are you going to do?" asked Thomas Reed, a spokesman for the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, a trade group for 12 of the state's co-ops. "It's just one of those winters."
"What you have to do is make prudent use of your funds," Virginia Power spokesman William Byrd said. "Is it prudent to build or staff or cut for a once-in-every-20-or-30-years event?"
Gov. George Allen declared a state of emergency Friday for most of Virginia, and the Virginia Department of Emergency Services estimated 273,000 customers lost electric power in the storm. Power was restored by Tuesday afternoon for about 82 percent of those who had lost service, the department said.
The department said damage estimates were slow in coming in, but it was clear the storm will cost localities millions of dollars.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB