THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994                TAG: 9408120614
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

UTILITY TURNS TO OUTSIDE HELP TO CUT POWER VIRGINIA POWER WANTS ENERGY-MANAGEMENT FIRMS TO BID FOR WORK.

In an effort to better control the rising demand for its electricity, Virginia Power said Thursday that it will solicit help from outside companies selling energy-management services.

``We are looking for companies that can provide a broad array of energy services to a (Virginia Power) customer,'' said William H. Byrd, a spokesman for the Richmond-based utility.

The companies, he said, would be capable of procuring and installing energy-efficiency equipment as well as providing advice to Virginia Power customers.

Similar programs have been used by electric utilities in the Northeast and the western United States but are rare in the South, Byrd said.

Asking energy-management companies to help customers is the latest part of a sweeping conservation program launched by Virginia Power last year. The program is intended to promote greater energy efficiency among customers and to shift some electricity demand from peak periods of the day to night hours.

Virginia Power said it expects that by the year 2000 this combination of conservation measures will reduce its summer peak demand for electricity by 840 megawatts. That equals the output of two large coal-fired power plants.

The utility expects the efficiencies provided by energy-service companies to cut as much as 10 megawatts from its peak demand by mid-1999.

Virginia Power said it will solicit bids from qualified companies during the first quarter of 1995 and will evaluate the bids by next summer. Contracts will be awarded by the end of 1995, it said.

The bids will be considered on the basis of the price, feasibility, reliability and innovation of a company's services.

Some details of the assistance program, including the costs to Virginia Power customers, have yet to be worked out, Byrd said. However, the company expects 100 to 150 companies to respond to its bid requests, he said.

Companies seeking information about the program's qualifications should contact Virginia Power by Sept. 30. Additional information is available from Tom C. Wise, Demand-Side Bidding Pilot, Purchasing Department, Virginia Power, 701 E. Cary St., Richmond, VA. 23219.

KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA POWER

by CNB