May 21, 2002

PITTSBURGH - Dominion Peoples presented over $50,000 in Community Impact Awards today at a special recognition luncheon held at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel. The Community Impact Awards program honored nine area development projects in southwestern Pennsylvania that have made a major contribution to the social and economic revitalization of the communities in which they operate.

A total of sixty-nine nominations from non-profit organizations across southwestern Pennsylvania were received during the 2001 competition. The Dominion Peoples grants were made through the Dominion Foundation, which is dedicated to the economic, physical and social health of the communities served by Dominion companies.

The award winning projects are:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh for its Pathways Project, a mentoring partnership that gives disadvantaged children a personal and economic jumpstart on life.
• Operation Outward Reach for its vocational training program for inmates of state correctional facilities.
• PA CleanWays of Westmoreland County for its Unipaper Recycling program, which currently involves 14 municipalities and is continuing to grow.
• Butler County's Paul Laurence Dunbar Community Center for its PATH (People Against Threats and Harassments) project, which targets primarily high school students who are considered at-risk.
• Washington County Council on Economic Development for its Pennsylvania Transformer Technology project which provides capital to young companies ready for expansion.
• YWCA Westmoreland County for its Lego Robolab program which promotes and exposes robotics technology to middle and high school aged girls.
• Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland for its streamlined, one-stop delivery system for new businesses requiring site assistance, buildings, financing and workforce training.
• Urban League of Pittsburgh for its Campaign for African American Achievement initiative which serves mostly high school students in Allegheny County and strives to eradicate negative influences that inhibit their success.
• Private Industry Council of Westmoreland County for its Youthbuild program, which is designed to prepare disadvantaged youths for future employment while expanding the supply of affordable housing.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a production capability of more than 3 trillion British thermal units of energy per day. Dominion has a diversified and integrated energy portfolio consisting of 22,000 megawatts of generation, 4.6 trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas reserves, 7,600 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and 3.8 million franchise natural gas and electric customers in five states. Dominion also operates the nation's larges underground natural gas storage system with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's web site at www.dom.com.