Power Companies Likely Will Not Bill Customers For Isabel Costs

Most publicly traded electric utilities and telephone companiessaid they don't plan to pass on repair costs from storm damage tocustomers. Instead, company shareholders will likely bear thecosts.

The list includes Charlotte-based Duke Power, Richmond,Va.-based Dominion Resources _ which has 115,000 customers in NorthCarolina _ BellSouth and Sprint.

Raleigh-based Progress Energy said it hasn't made a decision onrecouping repair costs from Isabel, which came ashore Thursdayafternoon.

Duke Power still doesn't know how much it will cost to fixdowned lines that left about 131,000 customers in the Triangle andthe Triad without power for two days after the storm, spokesman TomWilliams said.

But the total will be much lower than the $87 million it cost tomake repairs after the ice storm in December 2002 that left 1.4million customers without power for as long as nine days, he said.

The last time Charlotte-based Duke passed storm repair costs onto customers was after Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which caused $65million in damage.

"We will not seek increases to recover (Isabel) storm costs,"Williams said. "This is part of our normal operating expense."

Progress Energy had 320,000 customers without power at the peakof last week's storm. Company spokesman Garrick Francis said ittook $39 million to restore power to 460,000 customers in December.

Progress did not seek a rate increase for those costs.

"We've been focused on restoration and haven't figured out allthe costs associated with Hurricane Isabel," Francis said. "Anydiscussion of cost or their allocation will be done at a laterday."

Electric utility rates are frozen in North Carolina until 2007,but companies can ask the state Utilities Commission for increasesto recover costs for unusual events.

Sprint isn't finished with repairs for Isabel damage, butdoesn't plan to ask for a rate increase to cover the costs, companyspokesman Tom Matthews said.

At the peak, the company had about 80,000 customers withoutphone service. On Monday, that total was down to 7,000, mainly inthe northeastern part of the state.

He said the company shouldered about $30 million in repair costsfrom Hurricane Floyd in 1999, which knocked out service to about150,000 customers.

"This is the cost of doing business," Matthews said.