Electric News Releases - 1999

May 27, 1999

Alliance Regional Transmission Organization To File For Regulatory Approval

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Power and four other electric utility companies, known collectively as the Alliance Regional Transmission Organization (Alliance RTO), will submit a proposal next week to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to form an independent regional transmission organization.

If approved by FERC, the Alliance RTO would be one of the largest independent regional transmission organizations in the country.

The other companies in the Alliance RTO are American Electric Power, Consumers Energy, FirstEnergy Corp., and Detroit Edison. The five companies own 31,000 miles of transmission lines and serve 26 million people in nine states, representing a peak load of 67,100 megawatts. The FERC application will be filed on June 4.

"We have worked hard to develop a regional transmission organization that facilitates competition and provides flexibility for our participation in the future," said Robert E. Rigsby, Virginia Power president and chief operating officer. "With this model, all electric suppliers would have equal, nondiscriminatory access to the electric power grid and to wholesale and retail customers. We think this is the best solution to promote fair and effective competition.

"We have kept an open dialogue with the State Corporation Commission throughout this process. We want to be sure the commission is informed about our progress toward meeting the goals of the electric utility restructuring legislation passed this year," Rigsby said.

The proposed Alliance RTO is structured to fulfill Virginia's statutory requirements for electric utilities to join or establish a regional transmission entity by Jan. 1, 2001.

The proposed structure would permit the creation of a publicly held independent transmission organization that would control and operate, and perhaps own, transmission facilities. This would give transmission owners the flexibility to maintain or divest ownership of their facilities, while ensuring independent operation.

The Alliance RTO would be managed and controlled by an independent board of directors. This would guarantee the Alliance RTO's independence from any market participant. No transmission owners or their affiliates would be permitted to hold more than 5 percent of the company stock.

American Electric Power, with its headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, serves portions of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Consumers Energy , with its headquarters in Jackson, Mich., serves much of Michigan's lower peninsula. Detroit Edison has its headquarters in Detroit and is the principal operating subsidiary of DTE Energy. It serves southeastern Michigan. FirstEnergy has its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, and serves northern and central Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Virginia Power is the principal subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc., (NYSE: D), an international energy business with headquarters in Richmond.

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