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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

I, W. Phillip Marcum, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Metretek
      Technologies, Inc.;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
      of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
      statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
      report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this report, fairly present in all material
      respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
      the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant
      and have:

           (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
           disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
           supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
           registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
           us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
           which this report is being prepared;

           (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
           controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions
           about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as
           of the end of the period covered by this report based on such
           evaluation; and

           (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
           control over financial reporting that occurred during the
           registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth
           fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
           affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
           registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

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5.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
      on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
      reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
      registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
      functions):

           (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
           design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
           which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
           ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
           information; and

           (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
           other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
           internal control over financial reporting.

   Date:  November 12, 2004              /s/ W. Phillip Marcum
                                         --------------------------------------
                                         W. Phillip Marcum
                                         President and Chief Executive
                                         Officer