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

DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994          TAG: 9409280431
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

SCC ISSUES REPORT ON UTILITY'S USE OF BLACKOUTS VIRGINIA POWER GOT GOOD MARKS OVERALL ON A COLD DAY IN JANUARY.

While commending Virginia Power for the level of its service on a bitterly cold day last January, the State Corporation Commission told the utility Tuesday to examine several aspects of its operations and planning.

Faced with record demand for electricity and problems at some of its generating plants, Virginia Power curtailed service by imposing 15-minute blackouts on almost half of its 1.8 million customers. For almost four hours, the utility rotated the blackouts throughout its service territory.

In its report, the SCC said was especially concerned about weather-related problems at non-utility plants that were supposed to provide electricity to Virginia Power.

``Corrective action must be taken to ensure an acceptable performance level under severe weather conditions in the future,'' the SCC said.

Virginia Power relied on non-utility plants to meet about 18 percent of its customer demand last winter. The balance was provided by the utility's own plants and power purchased from other utilities.

In its report, the commission noted that Jan. 19 was the fourth coldest day in Virginia in the past century and the second coldest day since 1912.

``Virginia Power performed admirably under the extremely challenging conditions,'' the SCC said.

Virginia Power, which serves eastern, central and Northern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, said Tuesday that it already has remedied many of the problems cited by the SCC.

``We think we've have taken significant steps to improve several factors, such as communication with the public, the use of non-utility generators, and short-term forecasting,'' said William Byrd, a Virginia Power spokesman.

The cold weather covering much of the East Coast last Jan. 19 made it especially difficult for Virginia Power to buy electricity from neighboring utilities. ``We had been getting a little bit from the south, but by around 8 a.m., that was no longer available,'' Byrd said.

The SCC told Virginia Power to report back to the commission on its findings by Dec. 15. by CNB