If you're a Dominion Virginia Power customer and you think your electric bills are already through the roof, get ready to pay even more.
Dominion is expected to ask for a base rate increase this week. The state's largest utility can't say how much it is seeking until the case is filed with the State Corporation Commission. The case is due by Wednesday.
Dominion president Thomas Farrell first disclosed plans for the increase in a teleconference with industry analysts in late January. He described the planned increase as "modest."
The SCC allowed Dominion to increase its rates 18 percent last summer to cover rising fuel costs, but the company's last base rate increase was 17 years ago.
Why are we in this energy mess? Wire Magazine just published a great series on how our energy needs have evolved and what needs to happen in the future, not only through conservation but also by fixing the grid. Here's just a brief snippet:
... the grid has fallen into disrepair, with few major efforts to fix it. Today, utilities allocate just 2 percent of revenue to research. "For God's sake, we contribute less to R&D than the pet food industry does," says Jeffrey Byron of the California Energy Commission. So the grid remains hobbled by unreliable electromechanical switches and analog controllers. During the early minutes of the Northeast blackout of 2003, the Ohio utility whose damaged hardware started the cascade couldn't even monitor its own wires; employees had to phone a regional overseer and beg for updates. By that time, it was too late.
