September 20, 2003
1 p.m.

RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion Virginia Power utility crews restored electrical service to about 600,000 customers within the first 24 hours after Hurricane Isabel ravaged the company's service area. A total of 1.8 million customers lost power because of the devastating storm.

As of 1 p.m. Saturday, about 1.2 million customers remained without power.

By noon, Dominion had restored power to 29 of 40 critical water-pumping stations across Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, with the remaining 11 expected to be energized by Sunday evening. Utility crews also have restored power to 25 hospitals in Dominion's service area.

With many of the public health and safety facilities in operation, crews began turning their attention to primary delivery circuits to turn the lights back on in homes and businesses.

Dominion's initial workforce of 7,000 has grown by about 1,000 as more crews from other utilities begin arriving in the hurricane-ravaged area. "The damage to our system is simply unbelievable," said Jimmy D. Staton, senior vice president-Operations, who saw gigantic trees that Isabel had uprooted and tossed into power lines during a helicopter tour Saturday.

"Our crews remain committed to getting the lights back on, but this effort will take many days. So far, we have restored service to about as many customers that were out from Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and that took us 10 days. Our line crews plus those who have come to our aid have done great work, and we've got lots of work ahead of us."

Dominion remains concerned about customer safety, especially from downed power lines and improper use of generators. There have been many reports of carbon monoxide poisoning because customers have not ventilated the generators properly. 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.

Some customers earlier today experienced difficulties and delays in reaching our call center because of telephone service interruptions. If callers continue to hear a message indicating that all circuits are busy, they should keep trying.

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.

###