RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Virginia Power has earned two awards for excellence in storm emergency outage restoration from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric utilities representing about 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry.

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EEI presented its 2012 Emergency Recovery Award to Dominion for the company's extraordinary effort to restore power to customers following the Derecho severe windstorm in late June. Dominion also earned EEI's 2012 Emergency Assistance Award for providing mutual aid assistance in October to storm-devastated Northeastern electric utilities recovering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

"Getting the lights back on quickly and safely is never easy following natural disasters," said EEI President Tom Kuhn.  "It takes strong commitment, advanced planning, and great execution.  Dominion Virginia Power responded with all three.  They're a great example for the nation's electric power industry.  I congratulate them."

"Dominion is honored to be recognized with these awards," said Thomas F. Farrell II, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dominion. "Our team strives to effectively prepare for major storms and to restore power to our customers quickly and safely afterwards.  It is all about taking care of our customers, and I want to personally thank all the hard-working men and women involved in this ongoing effort."

Dominion (NYSE: D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,400 megawatts of generation and 6,300 miles of electric transmission lines.  Dominion serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power