Dominion Welcomes D.C. Appeals Court Ruling on FERC Codes of Conduct

April 19, 2002

RICHMOND, Va. -- Dominion (NYSE:D) said that it welcomes a unanimous decision today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversing and remanding an order by the U.S. Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) that Dominion had contested.

The reversed FERC order, issued in May, 2000, originally required Dominion to adopt codes of conduct among its regulated and unregulated energy affiliates. Dominion opposed the order as too broad and unnecessarily restrictive and petitioned the court for relief.

Thomas F. Farrell, executive vice president of Dominion and chief executive officer of Dominion Energy, said:

"As a matter of general principle, we respect the spirit and intent of FERC's efforts to promote effective and meaningful codes of conduct governing the relationship between regulated and unregulated affiliates of the same entity. We're hopeful this decision in Dominion's favor will provide useful guidance as the commission considers its response.

"We believe the court shared the underlying premise of Dominion's position-that the market has evolved and new rules carefully tailored to individual corporations can more effectively promote corporate efficiency while maintaining a level competitive playing field.

"Practically speaking, this decision preserves our ability to achieve synergies and efficiencies that we anticipated when we completed our merger with Consolidated Natural Gas more than two years ago. We continue to adhere to industry-standard codes of conduct and believe our interpretation of existing guidelines should serve as an industry model. In the meantime, we look forward to working with FERC on devising effective rules."

Dominion is one of the nation's leading energy companies.


 

CONTACTS:    
Media: Mark Lazenby, 804-819-2042