July 10, 2002

LIMA, Ohio - Santa Claus came early for Downtown Lima, Inc., as Dominion East Ohio today donated its former headquarters building to the nonprofit organization.

The building, designed by renowned Lima architect T. D. .McLaughlin, was constructed in 1929 as the headquarters for the former West Ohio Gas Company. West Ohio merged with its sister company, East Ohio Gas of Cleveland, in 1997. Both were subsidiaries of the former Consolidated Natural Gas Company (CNG). CNG merged with Dominion (NYSE:D) of Richmond, Virginia in 1999.

"The old West Ohio Gas headquarters has long been a symbol of the rich history of the gas company and its commitment to the Lima community," said Edgar M. Roach, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Dominion Delivery. "We are very proud to have become a part of its history and continue our commitment to the preservation and growth of the downtown Lima area."

Roach said Dominion East Ohio has been working with the downtown organization for several months to secure the transaction. Downtown Lima, Inc. was chosen for its commitment to the growth of the downtown business district as well as the preservation of historic buildings.

Claude V. Cliborne III, president of the Downtown Lima Inc. board said the organization was thrilled Dominion had chosen it to receive the building.

"Dominion has certainly bolstered our organization with this very, very generous donation," Clibourne said. "The magnitude of its impact on the growth of downtown Lima has yet to be realized, but it will be significant."

Dominion East Ohio vacated the building two years ago when it consolidated its operations at the company's South Jackson Street location. Dominion East Ohio serves nearly 70,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in ten northwest Ohio counties.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion British thermal unit of energy per day. Dominion has a diversified and integrated energy portfolio consisting of nearly 24,000 megawatts of generation, 5.1 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves, 7,600 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. Dominion also serves 3.9 million franchise natural gas and electric customers in five states. In addition, Dominion owns a managing equity interest in Dominion Fiber Ventures LLC, owner of Dominion Telecom. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's web site at www.dom.com.