Gas News Release

July 29, 2001

Dominion East Ohio Gas Cost Decrease Takes Effect July 30

Dominion East Ohio sales customers will pay 29-percent less for natural gas, effective July 30, under a gas cost recovery (GCR) decrease filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio June 29. Dominion East Ohio sales customers will pay $6.17 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down 29 percent from the previous $8.70 per Mcf that had been in effect since April 30.

The gas cost reduction will affect 580,000 Dominion East Ohio customers, who buy natural gas from the company at rates regulated by the PUCO. About 520,000 customers, or 45 percent of the company’s 1.2 million customers, buy gas from competitive suppliers at market-based rates through the Energy Choice program.

Dominion East Ohio does not earn a profit on the GCR, which represents the cost of securing natural gas supplies for sales customers. The GCR accounts for more than two-thirds of a customer’s monthly bill. The company is allowed only to earn a profit on the delivery or transportation portion of the bill. That rate, also known as the base rate, has remained stable since 1994.

Cleveland-based Dominion East Ohio is the largest natural gas distribution subsidiary of Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va. Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers of energy, with a production capability of 2.7 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs) of energy per day. The company has a power generation portfolio of more than 21,000 megawatts, which is expected to grow to approximately 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 equivalent of natural gas reserves, with an annual production capability of over 300 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas. The company has 7,600 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline with a delivery capability of 6.3 billion cubic feet per day.

In addition, the company operates the nation’s largest underground natural gas storage system, with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. Dominion also serves 3.8 million retail natural gas and electric customers, and owns a managing equity interest in Dominion Fiber Ventures LLC, owner of Dominion Telecom. Dominion Telecom is expanding its fiber-optic network from its current 35,000 fiber miles (3,600 route miles) to more than 800,000 planned fiber miles (9,000 route miles). For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.