RICHMOND, Va. -- Dominion (NYSE: D) announced today the pricing
on December 9, 2002 of $600 million of senior unsecured notes, consisting of
$300 million of 5.125% 7-year notes and $300 million of 6.75% 30-year notes.
The company plans to place $500 million of the proceeds in escrow to partially
refinance a $1 billion debt maturity scheduled for January 31, 2003. The company
will use the remaining proceeds to pay down commercial paper issued in connection
with the Cove Point acquisition, which was closed in September. The transactions
are being jointly managed by JPMorgan and Wachovia Securities and are expected
to settle on Monday, December 16, 2002.
Thomas N. Chewning, chief financial officer of Dominion, said:
"With this issuance we have pre-funded half of the January 2003 debt maturity,
and we have the flexibility to refinance the remainder through either term financing
or commercial paper. This strengthens our financial position heading into 2003."
A copy of the final written prospectus relating to these offerings
may be obtained from the JPMorgan Securities Inc. Fixed Income Syndicate Desk,
phone 212-834-4533, or the Wachovia Securities Prospectus Department, phone
704-593-7454.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with a diversified and integrated energy portfolio consisting of 24,000-megawatts
of generation, 5.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas reserves, 7,700
miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and more than 960 billion cubic feet
of storage capacity. Dominion also serves 3.8 million franchise natural gas
and electric customers in five states. In addition, Dominion owns a managing
equity interest in Dominion Fiber Ventures LLC, owner of Dominion Telecom. For
more information about Dominion, visit the company's web site at www.dom.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements
that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Discussion of factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections,
forecasts, estimates and expectations may include factors that are beyond the
company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future
market conditions, estimates of proved and unproved reserves and the behavior
of other market participants. Other factors include, but are not limited to,
weather conditions, economic conditions in the company's service area, fluctuations
in energy-related commodity prices, changes to rating agency requirements, changing
financial accounting standards, trading counterparty credit risks, risks related
to energy trading and marketing, risks associated with successfully executing
the telecommunications business plan and other uncertainties. Other risk factors
are detailed from time to time in the company's Securities & Exchange Commission
filings.
