Electric News Releases - 1999

July 21, 1999

Virginia Power Launches Electronic Billing And Payment Option

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Power customers now can receive and pay their monthly electric bill via the Internet.

In another major milestone for its $100 million program to improve service to its 2 million customers, Virginia Power announced Wednesday that it has entered into a relationship with CheckFree, an Atlanta-based company that is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services, software and related products.

"Many of our customers are very comfortable with using the Internet every day to buy airplane tickets, jewelry, books, CDs and other items," said Mark McGettrick, vice president-Customer Service and Marketing. "Now, just as conveniently, they can use 'e-commerce' to take care of their Virginia Power bill."

To enroll, Virginia Power customers can simply visit the Virginia Power website and follow the instructions. Customers will be linked to the CheckFree E-Bill^SM Internet page, where they can enter their pertinent information, including the number of the checking account from which they would like their monthly bill deducted.

Once enrolled, customers can view a full-color version of their monthly bill – complete with graphics, logos and full billing detail – by visiting Virginia Power's Internet site or any CheckFree-supported distribution site on the World Wide Web.

Virginia Power customers also can enroll and have access to their bills via the following active Web sites:

• Bank One at http://www.bankone.com;
• Charles Schwab's secure site at https://www.mybills.com/schwab;
• First Union's secure site at https://www.mybills.com/firstunion;
• Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's secure site at https://www.dwdean.com;
• Navy Federal Credit Union's secure site at https://www.mybills.com/NavyFederalWebBillPay;
• Prudential Securities' secure site at https://www.mybills.com/Prudential/WBP, and
• CheckFree E-Bill Direct's secure site at https://www.mybills.com/ebill.

Users of Intuit's Quicken 98/99 software can enroll, pay and access their Virginia Power bill through the software's bill payment function.

Also, the almost 40,000 customers who participate in the company's Automated Payment Plan may enroll in the Internet service if they wish to view their bills on-line.

The ability to review and pay the monthly Virginia Power bill on-line is part of a multi-million dollar program to improve customers' ability to reach the company, reduce power outages and speed service restoration when outages do occur.

Major improvements in this effort have included:

• The installation of a toll-free customer service line, 1-888-667-3000, which replaced nearly 100 different local numbers. Customers may call this number for information about any Virginia Power service, including on-line billing.
• The creation of an automated call system to allow the Customer Service Center to handle up to 100,000 customer calls an hour and as many as 2,200 calls simultaneously, greatly aiding the company's service restoration efforts after a storm.
• The installation of about 500,000 automated meters in densely populated neighborhoods in northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads.
• The placement of computers in company trucks to provide crews with more complete and timely information to speed the company's response to outages and other problems.
• The automated analysis of service restoration using computers to review data, analyze company facilities, pinpoint problems and develop solutions.

Since launching the nation's first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution in March 1997, CheckFree has signed multi-year contracts with more than 50 of the top U.S. billers to provide online billing and payment – including 17 of the nation's largest utilities. For more information on CheckFree E-Bill, visit the company's web site at www.checkfree.com.

Virginia Power is the principal subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D), an energy company with headquarters in Richmond. For more information on Dominion Resources, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

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