
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 29, 1995                   TAG: 9511290067
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PENN FOREST COUPLE MAKES A RICH SWITCH

Steve and Brenda Wiley of the Penn Forest section of Southwest Roanoke County picked the right time to convert their home heating system from an electric heat pump to natural gas.

The switch made the Wileys Roanoke Gas Co.'s 50,000th customer in its Roanoke Valley and Bluefield service areas. The company noted the occasion Tuesday by giving the Wileys a check for $1,000.

Brenda Wiley, who works at a Roanoke law firm, said she and her husband knew last week that they had become a milestone for the utility, but the money to help offset the cost of the conversion was a surprise.

Over half of Roanoke Gas Co.'s new customers this year have lived along existing gas lines and are converting to gas from some other energy source, said Vice President John Williamson III. Over the past two years, the company has switched its emphasis from running gas lines into new neighborhoods to selling the service to people who live along existing lines.

by CNB