The Virginia Corporation Commission has approved an $8.3-million repayment by Virginia Power (VP) for excessive fuel costs resulting from a 1991 coal-hauling contract with CSX Transportation Inc. The contract became the focus of attention during a dispute last year between the utility and its corporate parent, Dominion Resources, Inc. (DRI).
Commission staff found in a January report that DRI chairman and CEO Thomas E. Capps had pressured VP into the contract, which was expected to benefit the company. But most of the expected benefits were nullified due to postponement of a coal-fired plant. Although the companies agreed to the refund, no findings of fault were made by the commission. VP will credit its fuel-adjustment account rather than provide direct customer refunds. The commission noted that overpayments made after May 1994 would have to be addressed at a later time. It ordered VP to begin negotiations with CSX on a new coal-hauling contract.
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