Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 6, 1992 TAG: 9202060620
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IN BUSINESS
Commission loses computer powerState Corporation Commission offices were handling the usual 1,800 to 2,000 daily calls for information Wednesday, but the only thing workers could tell callers was that they hoped the computer system soon would be up.
The recently installed system, intended to give the agency capacity to hold more data, crashed Tuesday, a spokesman said. IBM technicians spent the night hunting for problems and still were at it late Wednesday.
Ken Schrad, information chief for the SCC, said the department's data will be transferred to another state computer system if the problem isn't solved by today. - Associated Press
Pond process saves AEP $3.3 million
American Electric Power Co. - the Columbus, Ohio, parent of Roanoke-based Appalachian Power - said it has saved $3.3 million by recycling fly ash to mix with sludge in a pond-cleaning process at three of its coal-burning plants.
The process was developed to help clear ponds of sludge left when acid was cleaned from boiler tubes at Apco's John E. Amos power plant near Charleston, W.Va., said Dale E. Heydlauff, vice president-environmental affairs for AEP's service subsidiary. The process also has been used at Apco's Mountaineer plant at New Haven and an AEP plant in Indiana.
The utility had been using filter presses to squeeze water out of the sludge, leaving a moist "cake" that was hauled to landfills. In the new process, fly ash is mixed with sludge into a drier, more easily handled form, bypassing the expensive filter-press step, AEP said.
Heydlauff said the new process has extended the useful life of the storage ponds. He called it an example of the company's commitment to recycling coal-burning products in ways that improve the environment and reduce operating costs. - Staff report
Hechinger sells accounts receivables
Hechinger Co., a Landover, Md., home-center retailer operating a store in Roanoke, said Wednesday it is selling the company's accounts receivables, for approximately $80 million, to an affiliate of General Electric Capital Corp. GE Capital is one of the largest issuers of private-label credit cards, with more tham 65 million cardholders and serving more than 300 retailers. The move is expected to expand Hechinger's credit card base for its Home Quarters Warehouse and Hechinger stores. - Wire report