Dominion Welcomes D.C. Appeals Court Ruling
on FERC Codes of Conduct
RICHMOND, Va. -- Dominion
(NYSE:D) said that it welcomes a unanimous decision today by the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversing and remanding an order by
the U.S. Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) that Dominion had contested.
The reversed FERC order, issued in May, 2000, originally
required Dominion to adopt codes of conduct among its regulated and unregulated
energy affiliates. Dominion opposed the order as too broad and unnecessarily
restrictive and petitioned the court for relief.
Thomas F. Farrell, executive vice president of Dominion and
chief executive officer of Dominion Energy, said:
"As a matter of general principle, we respect the spirit
and intent of FERC's efforts to promote effective and meaningful codes of conduct
governing the relationship between regulated and unregulated affiliates of the
same entity. We're hopeful this decision in Dominion's favor will provide useful
guidance as the commission considers its response.
"We believe the court shared the underlying premise
of Dominion's position-that the market has evolved and new rules carefully tailored
to individual corporations can more effectively promote corporate efficiency
while maintaining a level competitive playing field.
"Practically speaking, this decision preserves our ability
to achieve synergies and efficiencies that we anticipated when we completed
our merger with Consolidated Natural Gas more than two years ago. We continue
to adhere to industry-standard codes of conduct and believe our interpretation
of existing guidelines should serve as an industry model. In the meantime, we
look forward to working with FERC on devising effective rules."
Dominion is one of the nation's
leading energy companies.
