Dive Brief:
- Regulators have allowed Dominion Virginia Power to decrease rates beginning April 1, with the typical residential customer seeing a drop of almost $6.50 in their monthly bills.
- Last week the Virginia State Corporation Commission issued orders in five cases, including approving a new fuel rate of 2.406 cents/KWh, a decrease of 0.612 cents/KWh from the current fuel factor of 3.018 cents/KWh.
- Regulators also approved annual revisions in four rate adjustment clauses.
Dive Insight:
Virginia regulators issued five orders last week which will decrease the average monthly bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity by $6.47, from $115.95 to $109.48. For the average residential customer, a fuel rate decrease means monthly bills will decrease $6.12.
Among the riders approved by the SCC, regulators allowed Dominion to recover costs for the development of the Warren County Power Station, a 1,328-MW natural gas-fired, combined-cycle electric generating facility near Front Royal.
Another rider will allow Dominion to recover costs for the conversion of coal-burning generation facilities in Altavista, Hopewell, and Southampton to renewable biomass generation facilities. The utility will also be allowed to recover costs for the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, a 600-MW generating plant in Wise County which is primarily fueled by coal.
Dominion will also be allowed to recover costs for Bear Garden Generating Station, a 580-MW combined cycle generating facility in Buckingham County.
