Electric News Releases

October 3, 2000

Electricity Choice Now Available For Dominion Virginia Power Customers in Northern Virginia

FAIRFAX, Va. – Dominion Virginia Power customers in the city of Fairfax and Fairfax County, including the towns of Clifton, Herndon and Vienna, are now among the first in the commonwealth to get to do something they've never been able to do before – choose their electricity supplier.

Project Current Choice, Dominion Virginia Power's retail access pilot program, began this week in Northern Virginia through a series of television, radio and newspaper ads, as well as ads on Metro rail stations, Metro buses, movie screens and Internet banners. About 35,500 customers in the designated area will be able to participate in the pilot program and pick a supplier a year before the beginning of full customer choice in Virginia.

"Though the concept of choice is new in Virginia, consumers in more than 16 states already have electricity choice," said Edgar M. Roach Jr., chief executive officer of Dominion Virginia Power. "We in Virginia have the advantage of being able to build on their experience. We believe Project Current Choice will allow us to make a smooth transition to full competition beginning in 2002.

"Regardless of which supplier customers choose, Dominion Virginia Power will continue to deliver the electricity to customers, maintain reliability and keep the lights on," said Roach.

Customers can volunteer for the program by calling a toll-free telephone line, 1-888-777-5456, by visiting www.dom.com/projectcurrentchoice on the Internet or through the mail. A direct mail volunteer card will be sent Oct. 9 to all greater Fairfax-area customers. Customers also can sign up by returning an insert that will be included with Dominion Virginia Power bills in October and November.

The northern Virginia initiative is the second phase of Project Current Choice. The first phase started earlier this year in central Virginia where more than 36,700 consumers have volunteered to participate in the program and can now choose a new electricity supplier. More than 1,500 residential customers already have enrolled with an alternative supplier. Northern Virginia customers who volunteer in phase two of the program can start getting electricity from their new supplier as early as Jan. 1, 2001.

"We have made it as simple as possible for a customer to volunteer," Roach said. "Once customers volunteer to participate, they will have the option to choose a new supplier that is licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. No one who volunteers will be switched to a new supplier without their expressed permission."

Project Current Choice is the first step of a multi-year effort to implement electric choice for 1.9 million Virginia customers served by Dominion Virginia Power. The Virginia Electric Utility Restructuring Act of 1999 calls for customer choice and the deregulation of the generation of electricity. The transmission and distribution of electricity will continue to be regulated.

Customer choice will be phased in between Jan. 1, 2002, and Jan. 1, 2004. The law also gives the Virginia State Corporation Commission the authority to conduct retail choice pilot programs before the phase-in begins. The commission directed Dominion Virginia Power and American Electric Power-Virginia to develop pilot programs as a way to get ready for full-scale customer choice.

Dominion is the nation's largest fully integrated electric power and natural gas company. Dominion has a power generation portfolio of more than 19,000 megawatts, which is expected to grow to more than 28,000 megawatts by 2005. Dominion is also one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America, with 2.8 trillion cubic feet of equivalent reserves. The company has 7,600 miles of inter-state natural gas pipeline with more than 650 billion cubic feet of annual natural gas throughput. Dominion also serves 3.8 million retail natural gas and electric customers. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.