Dominion Virginia Power will ask state
legislators to end Virginia's five year experiment with retail
competition in the electricity business.

The state's largest public utility called for a return to state
regulation of electric rates yesterday, five years after Virginia
fixed rates and allowed retail customers to shop for their power
supplies.

If approved by the General Assembly at the session beginning
January 10th, the proposal would lift the cap on retail rates at
the end of 2008, two years earlier than under current law. It also
would establish a new way of setting rates that would not rely on
market prices.

The proposal was prompted by fears about the danger of allowing
competitive power markets to eventually set retail rates for
millions of homes and businesses across the state.