Study Concludes Southwestern Virginia Will Benefit From Greenbrier Pipeline

May 2, 2002

Clarksburg, W.Va. - The proposed Greenbrier Pipeline would result in significant short-term and long-term economic benefits to southwestern Virginia, according to an economic impact study conducted by Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. The report concludes that because of considerable construction outlays and the generation of property tax revenues, the general regional economy will reap immediate advantages.

According to the report, economic impact in the study region would include $88 million in construction contracts plus nearly $3 million in worker-related expenditures.

The findings, prepared by Dr. Vittorio Bonomo, associate professor of finance at Virginia Tech, points out that the Greenbrier Pipeline will have long-term benefits to the region as well. According to the report, there is a need for an infrastructure to serve current natural gas requirements as well as future growth.

The proposed Greenbrier Pipeline, a partnership of a Dominion subsidiary and a Piedmont Natural Gas subsidiary, represents nearly one-half billion dollars in expenditures that are designed to attract industry to the region, provide for a more efficient and environmentally sound generation of electricity and serve smaller users by increasing the supply of natural gas to local distribution companies.

The study also states that the Greenbrier Pipeline will directly affect property taxes paid to local governments in the study region. The additional taxes will either reduce the amount of taxes collected from other sources or provide for an improvement in the level of public services. (See table on page 11 of study).

"We were confident that the Greenbrier Pipeline would provide economic benefits to southwestern Virginia, and at the same time, build an infrastructure that would attract future economic growth and development," stated Gary Sypolt, senior vice president of Dominion Transmission, which will construct and operate the pipeline. "The economic advantages as outlined in the Virginia Tech study are even more favorable to the region than we had anticipated."

The Greenbrier Pipeline will have the capacity to supply 600 dekatherms (or about 585 million cubic feet) a day of natural gas to local distribution companies, municipalities, marketers, industrial users and new electric power plants. The proposed pipeline will include 200 miles of 30-inch pipeline from Dominion Transmission's existing Cornwell Compressor Station near Charleston, W.Va., to a point in Rockingham County, N.C., about 44 miles of 24-inch pipe from Rockingham County to Person County, N.C. and about 18 miles of 20-inch pipe from Person County to Granville County, N. C.

Dominion, headquartered in Richmond, Va., is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion British thermal units of energy per day. Dominion owns and operates 7,600 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline with a delivery capacity of 6.3 billion cubic feet per day. Dominion serves nearly 4 million retail natural gas and electric customers in five states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy and services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to 710,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Charlotte-based company is the second-largest natural gas utility in the Southeast. Piedmont is also invested in a number of non-utility, energy-related businesses including companies involved in unregulated retail natural gas and propane marketing, and interstate and intrastate natural gas storage and transportation. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at www.piedmontng.com.

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