March 20, 2002

CLEVELAND, OH – Dominion East Ohio has converted its network of authorized payment agents to a new system, which will facilitate faster posting of customers' in-person payments. Many of the same merchants continue to participate within the new system, operated by American Payment Systems (APS).

Customers may pay their Dominion East Ohio bills in person at the 110 APS locations, spread throughout the company's service territory, with an additional 25 to 35 agents scheduled to come on line within the next two weeks. All these locations are linked electronically to Dominion East Ohio. Customers' payments will post to their accounts within one to two business days.

Customers may make their payments, at a nominal fee per transaction, at all authorized payment agent locations. Fees may vary by individual location. The APS locations generally have decals on their doors designating them as "Dominion Authorized Payment Agents."

The company noted that it generally takes seven to 10 working days to post payments made at banks and other unauthorized payment locations, many of whom transmit payments to Dominion East Ohio by mail, rather than by electronic computer link.

Customers, who face an imminent shutoff, can prevent that shutoff by making the required minimum payment at an authorized payment agent, and, then, reporting their payment receipt number to Dominion East Ohio's Call Center, toll-free, at 1-800-362-7557. This procedure only applies to those payments made at an authorized payment agent.

For a listing of the new Dominion East Ohio APS Authorized Payment Agents, see Dominion's Internet site at www.dom.com, or call 1-800-362-7557. Visiting authorized payment agents is just one of many available customer payment options, including telephone, automatic bank drafts, credit cards, and mail, which remains the most popular form of payment.

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 largest 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.