RICHMOND, Va., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dominion Virginia Power today asked the State Corporation Commission for permission to reduce customer rates, effective July 1, as a result of a fuel rate adjustment.  The company uses a diversified mix of fuel to run its power stations to generate the electricity used by its customers.

If approved, the fuel rate reduction of nearly 4.2 percent, or approximately $81.6 million, would be the fourth time in 12 months that the fuel rate has decreased. This adjustment would lower the average monthly bill of a typical residential customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours each month by $1.24, or 1.2 percent, to $98.36 from $99.60. The new fuel rate would be 28 percent less than the fuel rate that was in effect June 30, 2009.  

The fuel rate is a pass-through cost with no profit to Dominion.

Dominion maintains a balanced fuel mix, which reduces price volatility when one fuel source is relied on too heavily. Dominion's 2.3 million Virginia customers in 2009 derived 33 percent of their electricity from coal, 32 percent from nuclear, 9 percent from natural gas, 1 percent from oil and 25 percent from the regional electric grid. Dominion also is planning to add wind and additional biomass generation to its mix in the future to help meet its commitment to Virginia's voluntary renewable energy portfolio standard of 15 percent by 2025.

The company this year also received SCC approval for five demand-side management programs that should result in reduced customer usage in the future.

If approved by the SCC, the average monthly bill of a typical Dominion Virginia Power residential customer of $98.36 would be 16.7 percent less than the national average monthly bill of $118.11. It would also be 9.5 percent lower than the typical Dominion Virginia Power residential customer monthly bill of $108.73 in March 2009.

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion, (NYSE: D), one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of more than 27,500 megawatts of generation, 12,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,000 miles of electric transmission lines.  Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system with 942 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com. 

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power