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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 25, 1995                   TAG: 9504260066
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

APCO FAVORED FOR MILL

Appalachian Power Co., not the city of Bedford's electric company, should serve the power needs of the Georgia-Pacific expanding paper mill at Big Island, the staff of the State Corporation Commission has recommended.

Because Roanoke-based Apco has been the exclusive provider of electric service to the manufacturing facilities at the mill for 35 years and would be a more reliable electric supplier, the SCC should grant Apco the authority to provide the mill service in the future, the SCC staff said in a report made public Monday.

Georgia-Pacific is building a $100 million-plus expansion at Big Island that will increase the mill's electricity demands by 70 percent. Big Island is on the James River in northeastern Bedford County.

Bedford had argued that a 1977 map approved by the SCC puts the mill in the city's service area and that Apco has been supplying the mill with electricity illegally. Bedford has supplied electricity to smaller, non-paper-making areas of the mill.

However, the SCC staff said that giving Apco the authority to continue serving the mill would amount to "the wise correction of a simple mistake" that was made when the map was drawn up.

The staff, calling Georgia-Pacific "a sophisticated electric customer," noted the company has "expressed a strong preference" that Apco continue to supply the mill's energy needs. "Without significant policy or public interest concerns which override Georgia-Pacific's evaluation, it would be inappropriate for staff not to lend heavy weight to this factor," the staff said in its findings.

The staff said it would be in the public's best interest if the commission were to clear up the confusion and give Apco the authority to build and operate the facilities needed to serve the mill and its future expansions.

It based its recommendation on several factors, including Apco's history of reliably serving the mill; "the superior utility management and financial strength of Apco" and its parent, American Electric Power Co. of Columbus, Ohio; and the lower risk to Apco's other customers in serving the mill's expansion because of Apco's larger number of customers.

If Bedford were to begin serving the mill's expansion, it would increase the load on the city's system by 40 percent, and, if the city were to take over all the mill's power needs, it would double the total power demand on the city utility, the SCC staff said.

The SCC will hold a public hearing on the dispute May 1. Both Bedford and Apco have asked the commission for a quick decision.

by CNB