September 23, 2003
3 p.m.

RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion has restored power to more than two-thirds of the total 1.8 million customers who lost electric service as a result of Hurricane Isabel.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday—the fifth day of restoration activities—less than 600,000 customers remain without power in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. The lights are back on for more than 1.2 million customers who lost their lights when Isabel swept ashore Thursday and brought down trees and power lines. Dominion remains on target to have power restored to 75 percent of the total customers affected by Thursday.

"We've accomplished a lot in just a few days," said Jimmy D. Staton, senior vice president-Operations. "We know we still have a lot of work to do. We're going to keep going night and day and get everybody back on just as fast as we can."

A strong band of thunderstorms, including tornadoes, moved through the service area early Tuesday, creating about 40,000 new outages. Crews also worked to restore service to those customers. Some of this activity was hindered slightly by heavy rains and minor, localized flooding.

Among the highlights Tuesday:

• All transmission lines are now operational. Isabel knocked out 62 transmission lines; the final three were restored Monday evening. Transmission lines carry electricity from power stations to main substations and between main substations.
• Service has been restored to all hospitals in the 30,000-square-mile service area.
• Of the 40 critical water-pumping stations identified by municipal authorities, power has been restored to 39, with the remaining station expected to be back on tonight.
• The company is working with localities to get the power back on at schools throughout the rest of the service area. Virtually all schools in Northern Virginia have power.
• More specific information is being posted on the company's Web site, www.dom.com. For example, customers can now see, by region and then by neighborhood, where and when crews are working. This information will be updated daily.
• The total workforce expanded to more than 11,000. The restoration effort took on an international flavor Tuesday with the arrival of crews from Hydro Quebec in Canada. More 2,600 of the total workforce are from electric utilities in Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and North Carolina.

Dominion's customer service center has handled more than 1 million calls during this event. Additional information about individual restoration times is being fed into the computer system daily so that customers can call the 1-888-667-3000 customer service number and get more individual restoration information. Information is not available for every single customer yet, but the amount of information is growing steadily every day.

Dominion Tuesday donated $50,000 to the Red Cross, earmarked for Hurricane Isabel restoration efforts in Virginia and North Carolina.

"We're doing this publicly because we hope it will stimulate donations from other companies and other people," said Staton. "The Red Cross is providing all types of assistance—to the people who need it the most and need it badly—and they need everyone's support."

Dominion also received help from Operation Blessing International, the Virginia Beach-based humanitarian arm of CBN. Operation Blessing provided three refrigerated trailers for Dominion to store water and ice for crews working around the clock to cut trees, set poles and string new power lines.

Dominion remains concerned about customer safety, especially from downed power lines and improper use of generators. Company officials note that unless installed professionally, generators should not be connected to the whole house electrical service. Improperly installed, the electricity could backfeed onto Dominion's power lines and injure line crews. Report downed power lines by calling 1-888-667-3000.

Dominion also called on customers to check on elderly relatives and neighbors or others with special needs who may not have their power restored.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a diversified and integrated energy portfolio that includes 24,000 megawatts of generation and 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves. Dominion also serves 5 million retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion, including dynamic updates on power restoration, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

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