Dominion Power 2000 Annual Report Download - page 19

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more than 150 feet above the river. Four conductors crashed into the
water, damaging two others and blacking out a major portion of downtown
during rush hour. Under old ways of business, repairs to the line would
have halted traffic on the river for a week to ten days while the cable
was lowered and work performed from another barge.
Instead, three Bulk Power employees—Mark Allen, Don Koonce and
Danny Bowers—acted quickly and decisively. Our people chartered a
specialized helicopter and crew so that they could work on the damaged
cables from the air. Leaning out of that chopper, the aerial linemen spliced
lines together above the water, bringing the substation back into operation
in a matter of hours.
All in all, we had an excellent year.
Our 2000 operating earnings rose to $3.33 per share, up 10.6 percent
over 1999 with an operating return on equity of about 12 percent. Our
earnings performance exceeded our growth target of 8 to 10 percent.
Recognizing the full potential of the combined company, we twice increased
projected operating earnings for 2001. We now project per-share operating
earnings of $4.10—a level that we originally believed we would reach
by 2004—with continued annual growth in the range of 8 to 10 percent in
coming years. We set this target expecting that gas and oil prices will decline
from historic highs, our electric production costs will remain low, and demand
for gas and electricity in our geographic market will continue to grow.
We’re committed to continuing our $2.58 annual dividend. Dividends are
an important, if neglected, component of total return. Maintaining the dividend
is important to many shareholders who depend on dividends for income.
Some Wall Street pundits say a company intent on share-price growth
can’t afford to reward its investors with cash. I disagree. Unless the laws
of gravity change, our share price should rise with rising earnings. And the
percentage of earnings we pay as dividends will go down—something
Wall Street will view favorably. At year’s end, our payout was about
77 percent of total earnings. Over time, we’ll work to have earnings growth
move that in the neighborhood of 50 to 55 percent.
17
Operating Earnings Rise
We’re committed to continuing our $2.58 annual dividend. Dividends
are an important, if neglected, component of total return.