January 17, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion Virginia Power is ready to begin nine conservation pilots that will test customers’ acceptance of new energy-saving programs now that it has received approval to proceed from the Virginia State Corporation Commission. View the final order.

The SCC approved the energy conservation pilot programs Thursday.  The pilots, some of which are expected to begin as early as this quarter, are consistent with the new Virginia Energy Plan and are designed to complement efforts by the SCC to reduce electrical consumption 10 percent by 2022. The 10 percent target was established by the Virginia General Assembly in electric utility reregulation legislation adopted last year.

“Dominion is pleased with the commission’s expedited approval of our conservation pilots,” said Jay Johnson, chief executive officer of Dominion Virginia Power. “These programs will not only provide valuable up-to-date information regarding customer acceptance of conservation programs in Virginia, they will also establish the foundation for Dominion’s long-term strategy of enhancing the electric distribution system to meet the increasing needs and expectations of customers in the 21st Century.”

This strategy will include:

• Deployment of “Smart Grid" technologies that will help deliver superior customer service and operational performance, such as real-time outage management and power quality monitoring;
• Advanced Metering Infrastructure to enable conservation, peak pricing and demand response programs; and
• Improvements to the distribution system to meet future storm reliability needs.

“In addition to the 4,000 megawatts of new generation required to meet Virginia’s energy needs in the next decade, energy conservation, efficiency and peak-load management will also be important elements of the energy solution in the state,” said Johnson. 

“These pilots will gather valuable information about what customers are willing to do and what programs may be most effective in achieving sustainable energy savings. It is anticipated that these pilots will also signal the need for a more widespread deployment of new technologies throughout entire communities or regions of our service area,” said Johnson.

The pilots will be offered to a selection of 4,550 customers in Dominion’s Central, Eastern and Northern Virginia service areas.  Customers will not be able to volunteer for the pilots nor participate in more than one pilot to help ensure that the results are representative.  Dominion will report results from the pilots at least quarterly to the SCC staff to help evaluate their effectiveness.

The pilots approved by the SCC include:

• 1,000 residential customers in each of four different energy-saving pilots.  The pilots are designed to cycle central heating and air conditioning units during peak-demand times, inform consumers about their real-time energy consumption patterns, promote programmable thermostats that allow customers to control their use of electricity, and educate customers about the value of reducing energy use during peak-use times.
• Free energy audits and energy efficiency kits to 150 existing residential customers, 100 ENERGY STAR new homes, and 50 small commercial customers. In addition, 250 new homes will receive energy efficiency welcome kits that include compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Incentives for commercial customers to reduce load during periods of peak demand by running their generators to produce up to 100 megawatts of electricity. That is enough electricity to power as many as 25,000 residences at peak. This would be in addition to existing Dominion options in which commercial and industrial customers already reduce demand by more than 300 megawatts during peak-demand periods.

Dominion will continue to offer energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs at discounted prices in 2008 and 2009. The discount program, offered in association with home improvement retailer The Home Depot through its numerous stores in Dominion’s Virginia service area, has been a success, with 568,822 bulbs being sold in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Because of the success in 2007, Dominion has increased the 2008 and 2009 CFL sales goal to 2.25 million each year, for a three year total of more than 5 million bulbs, up from an initial target of 1.4 million bulbs.

“We are always searching for ways to improve service to our customers, said Johnson. “By investing aggressively in the modernization of our distribution network with advanced technologies, our customers will experience improved service along with expanded options to help them take control of their future energy costs.”

View additional energy efficiency information on dom.com.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 26,500 megawatts of generation.  For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com.

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