May 3, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion (NYSE: D) announced today unaudited net income determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for the three months ended March 31, 2006, of $534 million ($1.53 per share) compared to net income of $429 million ($1.25 per share) for the same period last year.

Operating earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2006, were $567 million ($1.63 per share) compared to operating earnings of $492 million ($1.44 per share) for the three months ended March 31, 2005. Operating earnings are defined as GAAP earnings adjusted for certain items.

Dominion uses operating earnings as the primary performance measurement of its earnings outlook and results for public communications with analysts and investors. Dominion also uses operating earnings internally for budgeting, reporting to the board of directors and for the company’s annual incentive plan. Dominion management believes operating earnings provide a more meaningful representation of the company’s fundamental earnings power.

Business segment results and detailed descriptions of items included in 2006 and 2005 GAAP earnings but excluded from operating earnings can be found on Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of this release.

Tom Farrell, president and chief executive officer, said:

"We are very pleased with our first quarter results. After normalizing for warmer-than-normal weather in our utility service areas, and the mark-to-market benefit on de-designated hedges, operating earnings exceeded our internal expectations. This is largely due to the higher-than-expected oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

"In anticipation of continued operating excellence and the expected full recovery of our Gulf of Mexico gas and oil operations, we are affirming our full-year operating earnings guidance of $5.05 to $5.25 per share."

In affirming 2006 operating earnings guidance, the company notes that there could be differences between expected GAAP and operating earnings for matters such as, but not limited to, divestitures or changes in accounting principles. Dominion management is not able to estimate the impact, if any, of these items on GAAP earnings. Accordingly, Dominion is not able to provide a corresponding GAAP equivalent for operating earnings guidance.

First-quarter 2006 results compared to guidance assumptions

While Dominion’s first-quarter 2006 results exceeded internal expectations, largely due to higher-than-expected oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, differences between actual and expected commodity prices and weather affected certain aspects of the company’s business in a generally offsetting manner. Lower-than-expected natural gas prices had a favorable effect on Virginia fuel expenses, variable gas and oil production costs, and the mark-to-market valuation of remaining de-designated hedges. However, lower-than-expected natural gas prices had an unfavorable effect on unhedged natural gas sales revenue. Warmer-than-normal weather had a favorable effect on Virginia fuel expenses but an unfavorable effect on electric and natural gas utility sales.

Complete details of first-quarter 2006 results compared to guidance assumptions can be found on Schedule 4 of this release.

First-quarter 2006 operating earnings compared to 2005

First-quarter 2006 operating earnings of $1.63 per share compares to $1.44 per share in the first quarter of 2005. The increase is primarily attributable to increased oil production and gas and oil prices, higher contributions from the company’s merchant generation and producer services businesses, and a mark-to-market benefit from hedges de-designated following the 2005 hurricanes. These benefits were partially offset by warmer-than-normal weather in the company’s electric and natural gas utility service areas, higher Virginia fuel expenses and the absence of business interruption insurance proceeds recorded in the first quarter of 2005.

Complete details of first-quarter 2006 operating earnings compared to 2005 can be found on Schedule 5 of this release.

Second-quarter 2006 operating earnings assumptions

In the second-quarter 2005, Dominion recorded operating earnings of 99 cents per share and GAAP earnings of 97 cents per share. Second-quarter 2006 drivers that compare favorably to second-quarter 2005 include higher expected natural gas and oil production and prices and the absence of a scheduled refueling outage at Millstone. Favorable drivers in the second quarter of 2005 not expected to recur in 2006 include business interruption insurance proceeds from Hurricane Ivan and gains from the sale of excess emissions allowances.

Dominion’s second-quarter 2006 operating earnings assumptions compared to 2005 can be found on Schedule 6 of this release.

May 22 analyst meeting

Dominion will host an analyst meeting at The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston on Monday, May 22, at which management will provide preliminary guidance for its 2007 and 2008 earnings and cash flow with supporting drivers and assumptions. Individuals interested in attending the meeting that begins at 9:00 a.m. EDT should register at http://www.dom.com/investors/rsvp.jsp or contact investor relations at (804) 819-2155. The presentation and question and answer period that follows will be Web cast.

Conference call today

Dominion will host its first-quarter earnings conference call at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 3, at which time Dominion management will discuss first quarter financial results.

Domestic callers should dial (866) 710-0179. The passcode for the conference call is "Dominion." International callers should dial (334) 323-9871. Participants should dial in 10 to 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Members of the media also are invited to listen.

A live Web cast of the conference call will be available on the company’s investor information page at http://www.dom.com/investors/.

A replay of the conference call will be available beginning about 1 p.m. EDT May 3 and lasting until 11 p.m. EDT May 10. Domestic callers may access the recording by dialing (877) 919-4059. International callers should dial (334) 323-7226. The PIN for the replay is 17824085. Additionally, a replay of the Web cast will be available on the company’s investor information page by the end of the day May 3.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a 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 about 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 http://www.dom.com/.

This release contains forward-looking statements including our expectations for 2006 financial results that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations may include factors that are beyond the company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as the timing of the closing dates of acquisitions or divestitures, realization of and timing of the receipt of expected business interruption insurance proceeds and decreased availability of business interruption insurance on commercially reasonable terms, estimates of future market conditions, estimates of proved and unproved reserves, the company’s ability to meet its natural gas and oil production forecasts, the behavior of other market participants, and the effects of hurricanes on our operations, oil and gas production and realized prices. Other factors include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, governmental regulations, economic conditions in the company's service area, fluctuations in energy-related commodity prices, including changes in the cost of fuel for our regulated electric business, risks of operating businesses in regulated industries that are subject to changing regulatory structures, changes to regulated gas and electric rates recoverable by Dominion, transitional issues related to the transfer of control over electric transmission facilities to a regional transmission organization, changes to rating agency requirements and ratings, changing financial accounting standards, trading counter-party credit risks, risks related to energy trading and marketing, and other uncertainties. Other risk factors are detailed from time to time in Dominion’s most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q or annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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• Financial schedules that accompany the news release (PDF document, requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)