RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation’s largest energy companies, welcomed Thursday’s announcement that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the expansion of the Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal in Maryland.

With the expansion, the station’s throughput capacity will almost double, increasing to 1.8 million dekatherms per day from 1 MMDT/day. Commercial operations are expected to begin sometime during the second half of 2008.

“This expansion plan is sound both environmentally and operationally,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion president and chief executive officer. “The project's community benefits and environmental impact have been painstakingly examined, presented for public and government agency review and comments, and carefully re-examined.

“Throughout a two-year process, we have worked closely with landowners, environmental groups, local communities and county, state and federal governments to craft a station design and pipeline routes that are the best choice to provide new natural gas supplies to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.”

The company has 30 days to review the details of the Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience and return comments to FERC.

Dominion will build two storage tanks, increasing storage capacity at the terminal to approximately 14.6 billion cubic feet from 7.8 bcf. The expansion includes additional vaporizers at the plant and two pipelines.

A 36-inch diameter, 47.8-mile pipeline in Maryland will deliver the additional natural gas from Dominion Cove Point to interstate pipeline connections in Virginia. Dominion Transmission Inc., the company’s interstate pipeline unit, will build a 24-inch, 81-mile pipeline and two compressor stations in central Pennsylvania to move natural gas from its Perulack station in Juniata County to the Dominion South Point market hub, other interstate pipelines and the major natural gas storage fields at Leidy in Clinton County, Pa. Leidy is a major storage center for natural gas used by markets throughout the Northeast.

“These two pipeline projects are a key to getting new gas supplies to growing areas of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast,” Farrell said. “We will be able to deliver clean-burning natural gas from all over the world into the world’s largest natural gas market – the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions – at a time when many are concerned about supply and volatile prices.

Construction of new LNG storage tanks is set to begin as soon as practical. Construction of the pipelines in Maryland and Pennsylvania will be timed to go into service concurrent with completion of the new LNG facilities in 2008.

Dominion purchased the Cove Point LNG terminal in 2002 and reopened it in the summer of 2003. The station is located in Lusby, Md., on the Chesapeake Bay, south of Baltimore.

Dominion has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO), a global gas and oil company, for 100 percent of the new station capacity for the next 20 years. Statoil will purchase firm LNG tanker discharge services and related transportation, as well as downstream firm transportation and storage services.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 28,100 megawatts of generation, about 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.