Dominion Virginia Power, a utility
company headquartered in Richmond, announced in a SCC
filing it would not seek to collect a wires charge from
its customers in 2005. The wires charge is added to
bills of customers who switch electricity providers
to a Virginia Power competitor, and is meant as compensation
for the company's investment in past service. Waiving
the charge could open the way for more competition in
the deregulated electricity market, however Virginia
Power, which has the right to charge the fee through
mid-2007, could resume the charge in 2006. (Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
Judge Charles B. Flannagan II
of the Alleghany County Circuit Court ruled BB&T
Corp. of Winston-Salem, N.C. must honor a high-interest
certificate of deposit marketed by a predecessor bank
acquired by BB&T. The 30-month CDs were sold in
the 1980s with an advertised lifetime interest rate
of not less than 10 percent. Rates today are about 2.9
percent. Bank regulators had ruled BB&T didn't have
to honor the old rate, but testimony indicated the State
Bank of the Alleghenies marketed the rates as lifetime
guarantees. BB&T plans to appeal the ruling. (Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
Time Warner Inc., a New York-based media
company, agreed to pay $210 million to settle securities-fraud
charges by the U.S. Department of Justice against the
company's America Online operations, headquartered
in Dulles. AOL must also comply with changes in its
internal practices in order to have the charges dismissed
in two years. No company executives were charged but
none were granted immunity in the matter. Time Warner
also agreed to pay $300 million to end a parallel investigation
by the Securities and Exchange Commission. (The Associated
Press)
