RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A typical
Dominion Virginia Power residential customer could expect to see an
overall reduction of 5.5 percent in electric rates beginning in
April.
"This is good news for family budgets and Virginia businesses," said Robert M. Blue, president of Dominion Virginia
Power. "With the passage of Senate Bill 1349, sponsored by
Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach and signed into law by Gov.
Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday, our
customers will receive immediate savings beginning with their April
bills."
The bulk of the reduction stems from the new state law that
gives consumers the benefits of lower fuel costs immediately and
protects them from potential price spikes related to federal
mandates to reduce carbon emissions. In the fuel filing made today,
Dominion asked the Virginia State Corporation Commission to approve
a reduction related to fuel costs beginning April 1 rather than waiting until July 1. This will result in a $6.12 per month reduction in the typical
residential bill for a customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of
power. Commercial and industrial customers could realize a savings
of about 7 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Also scheduled to take effect April
1 is an additional decrease of 28
cents to a typical monthly residential bill that reflects
reductions in generation construction costs associated with the
Bear Garden and Warren County
power stations, Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center and the
conversion of three former coal plants to biomass. These
reductions are related to filings made last year. With these
additional reductions, the typical residential monthly bill would
decline a total of 5.5 percent from $115.95 per month to $109.55 per month, making rates 18.8 percent
below the national average of $134.90.
The company noted that one reason for the lower fuel costs is
the recent construction of highly efficient natural gas-fired power
stations. Bear Garden Power Station, a gas-fired, combined cycle
facility in Buckingham County,
went into commercial operation in May
2011. Warren County Power Station, a larger facility,
entered into commercial operation in December 2014. Another
gas-fired combined cycle facility in Brunswick County is expected to go into
commercial operation in May 2016.
Monthly bills are largely made up of base charges plus fuel
charges. The fuel portion is passed through at no markup or
profit. Other rate adjustments for transmission and
generation projects can fluctuate up and down. The base rate
portion accounts for approximately 60 percent of the residential
bill. Under SB 1349, base rates will be frozen through 2019
to protect customers from certain costs the company may incur to
comply with stricter federal regulations on carbon emissions, as
well as any costs to make repairs and restore service after a major
storm or other severe event.
For more information on Dominion Virginia Power's rates, visit
www.dom.com/varates.
Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and
transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 24,600
megawatts of generation, 12,400 miles of natural gas transmission,
gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,455 miles of electric
transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's
largest natural gas storage systems with 949 billion cubic feet of
storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in
12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's
website at www.dom.com.
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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power