Dominion Crews Restoring Electric Service As Tropical Storm Ernesto Moves Through Virginia

September 1, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion crews in Virginia and North Carolina are working to restore electric service disrupted by heavy rains and high winds brought by Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Tidewater Virginia has experienced the most damage, with more than 155,000 homes and businesses affected as of Friday afternoon. About 270,000 of the 2.3 million homes and businesses served by Dominion in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina were without power as of 1 p.m. Friday.

Ernesto began causing a steady stream of service interruptions for Dominion customers starting early Friday morning. The Dominion service areas in Tidewater, Middle Peninsula and southcentral Virginia are receiving much of the worst weather caused by Ernesto as the storm’s northeast quadrant passes through that region.

Dominion crews were positioned and supplies and equipment inventories were checked in anticipation of the storm. Restoration and assessment efforts are taking place in all areas where it is safe for line crews to work. Contractors from Duke Energy in North Carolina are assisting in the restoration.

Dominion reminds customers to stay away from downed power lines. Customers should report downed power lines and power outages by calling Dominion toll free at 1-888-667-3000.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of about 28,000 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 one of the nation's largest underground natural gas storage systems with about 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in ten states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com.

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