THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120361
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 30 lines
Virginia Power plans in early January to ask the State Corporation Commission to regulate it in a new way, a spokesman for the utility said Monday.
Richmond-based Virginia Power, the state's largest electric utility, hasn't disclosed yet how it wants to be regulated. It just notified the commission Friday that it intends to ask for the change.
But Bill Byrd, the utility's spokesman, said the company believes that the traditional regulatory approach of tightly controlling profit margins must give way as competition unfolds in the electric-utility industry.
Virginia Power helped push a bill through the General Assembly earlier this year that allows the commission to consider alternate regulatory approaches for the state's electric utilities.
Among the alternate schemes Virginia Power said it was considering was a freeze on its rates in exchange for a lifting of the cap on its profits.
Right now, the company's profits are limited to a predetermined return on equity. If the company is more profitable than allowed, it must refund money to ratepayers.
Byrd said congressional efforts to deregulate and introduce more competition in the electric-utility industry will likely pick up steam next year. He said Virginia Power will file a proposal with state regulators that will ``help in the transition to a competitive market.'' by CNB