Dominion Resources' corporate roots go back to the Colonial
Era. In 1787 the Virginia General Assembly established the Appomattox Trustees
to promote navigation on the Appomattox River. The Assembly's Acts of 1787
(Chapter 53, Sections III and V) named seven original trustees, who organized
the Upper Appomattox Company in 1795 to improve navigation and commercial development
on the James River and its tributaries, including canal operation to secure
water rights to the river.
The company took over several hydroelectric stations
on the river and added a steam power facility in 1888. Frank Jay Gould bought
a successor company in 1909 through his Virginia Railway and Power Company
(VR&P).
The firm purchased several electric streetcar lines and electric and gas utilities
the following year.
Formation of Virginia Electric and Power Company
VR&P was acquired by New York engineering firm Stone &
Webster in 1925. Stone and Webster placed it under a new holding company, Engineers
Public Service (EPS). VR&P's name was changed to Virginia Electric and Power
Company (VEPCO), and the firm bought several utilities in North Carolina. During
the 1930s the automobile and the Depression put the company's trolley lines
out of business.
In 1940 the government sued EPS under the Public Utility
Holding Company Act of 1935. This in effect triggered an era of regulated utility
monopolies. EPS was forced to divest itself of everything but VEPCO. However,
VEPCO soon doubled its service territory by merging with the Virginia Public
Service Company.
The number of electric customers increased by about half from 1950 to 1957,
so the company added new stations to keep up with demand. It also built the world's
first extra-high-voltage transmission system.
VEPCO's first nuclear stations went into service in the 1970s.
In 1980, company President William Berry became an early proponent
of electric competition. The company redefined its corporate identity and image,
and began using the names Virginia Power and North Carolina Power. Then in 1983
Berry formed Dominion Resources with Virginia Power as a subsidiary, then halted
nearly all station construction to emphasize transmission. Two years later Dominion
Capital was formed; Dominion Energy followed in 1987.
Thos. E. Capps took over as CEO in 1990, and Dominion sold
its natural gas distribution operations. Dominion Energy formed joint ventures
to develop natural gas reserves. The firm bought three natural gas companies
in 1995, and the next year Dominion joined with Chesapeake Paper Products to
build a cogeneration facility.
Dominion acquired UK power firm East Midlands Electricity
in 1997 and sold it to PowerGen 18 months later. Also in 1998, Dominion bought
an Illinois power station from Unicom's Commonwealth Edison.
The following year Dominion reorganized in preparation for
energy deregulation by separating its generation activities from its transmission,
distribution, and retail operations.
In 2000 Dominion bought Consolidated Natural Gas in a deal
that transformed Dominion into one of the largest electric and gas utilities
in the United States with more than 4 million customers. It agreed to sell Virginia
Natural Gas (acquired in the Consolidated Natural Gas deal) to AGL Resources.
The company also agreed to pay $1.3 billion for Northeast
Utilities' Millstone nuclear power complex, which includes two operating reactors
and one that has been mothballed and is being decommissioned.
On August 28, 2000, the company began doing business solely
under the name "Dominion." The decision to change the company's business
name followed Dominion's merger with Consolidated Natural Gas Co. of Pittsburgh
and an extensive branding analysis that showed significant benefits related
to the use of the Dominion brand.
In Sept. 2000, Dominion's electric and natural gas companies
began using new names for their delivery, transmission and customer service
operations. Virginia Power does business as Dominion Virginia Power, and North
Carolina Power does business as Dominion North Carolina Power. On the gas side,
The East Ohio Gas Co. does business as Dominion East Ohio, The Peoples Natural
Gas Co. as Dominion Peoples, and Hope Gas Inc. as Dominion Hope.
Dominion Energy, the company's electric power production and
natural gas transportation and storage unit, includes two businesses: Dominion
Generation and Dominion Transmission. Dominion Generation, based in Richmond,
manages the company's regulated generating stations. Dominion Transmission,
formerly CNG Transmission Corp., is based in Clarksburg, W.Va., and operates
gas pipelines and North America's largest natural gas storage system. The company's
unregulated generation is also part of Dominion Energy.
The former CNG Producing Co. changed its legal name to Dominion
Exploration & Production. The Dominion E&P unit operated out of offices
in Houston and New Orleans and became one of the top independent oil and gas
producers in the country.
In September 2001, Dominion announced plans to acquire Louis
Dreyfus Natural Gas Corp. for $2.3 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.
The acquisition increased Dominion's natural gas reserves by 60 percent and
expanded its fast-growing energy trading business.
The former CNG Retail Services Corporation changed its name
to Dominion Retail, Inc., and offers competitive pricing in the non-regulated
energy market as well as a wide array of home warranties and other services
for your everyday needs through its affiliate, Dominion Products and Services,
Inc.
VPS Communications Inc., formerly part of Virginia Power,
became Dominion Telecom. A Dominion affiliated company, Dominion Telecom was
a facilities-based, interexchange carrier providing broadband solutions (private
line, wavelengths, dark fiber, Internet and collocation) to wholesale customers
throughout the eastern United States. The company was sold in early 2004 to
Elantic Networks Inc.
During 2007, Dominion sold the majority of its natural gas
and oil exploration and production properties as part of the company's strategic
refocusing on its power generation and energy distribution, transmission, storage
and retail businesses. The company sold about 5.5 Tcfe for approximately $13.9
billion. Dominion retained its Appalachian E&P operations, which include
approximately 1 Tcfe of proved reserves as of Dec. 31, 2006.
Current Status
Today, Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers
of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 26,500 megawatts of generation
and 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline.Dominion also operates the
nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with about 950 billion
cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 11 states.
Check our news releases often for the latest on Dominion.
