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Powering Virginia

Gas News Release

September 9, 1999

Public Utility Commission of Ohio Supports Dominion Resources/Consolidated Natural Gas Merger

RICHMOND, Va., and PITTSBURGH -- The Public Utility Commission of Ohio has filed a statement with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supporting the merger of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D - news) and Consolidated Natural Gas Company (NYSE: CNG - news), the two companies announced today.

The Ohio commission told the SEC that the agency would continue to exercise jurisdiction over the regulated activities of The East Ohio Gas Company, CNG's natural gas distribution company in Ohio, and that the merger would have no impact on its ability to protect the interests of Ohio ratepayers. The Ohio commission is not required to approve the merger but conducted a structural review at the request of East Ohio Gas.

Thos. E. Capps, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Dominion Resources and George A. Davidson Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of CNG, said in a joint statement:

"We believe our merger will provide substantial benefits to the state of Ohio. This is a merger about growth, and Ohio will play an important role in our expansion plans. We thank the Ohio commission for its timely review and support of our merger plan."

The merger has been approved by public utility commissions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as well as shareholders of both companies. Still pending are decisions by Virginia and North Carolina public utility commissions and several federal agencies.

"We continue to work toward being in a position to close the merger by the end of the year," Capps and Davidson said.

CNG has more than 2,200 employees and approximately 1.2 million natural gas customers in Ohio. The merged company plans to participate in unregulated markets for both natural gas and electricity in Ohio. Dominion Resources and CNG have also announced plans to build two $200 million gas-fired electric power generation facilities in Ohio to supply electricity during periods of peak need.

The Dominion Resources/CNG merger will create the nation's largest fully- integrated energy company. The merged company will serve about 4 million electric and natural gas customers in five states. It will have about 20,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and will operate North America's largest natural gas storage system. The merged company also will be one of the largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in North America, with more than 3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of reserves in the United States and Canada.

Dominion Resources expects SEC approval of its plan to have CNG remain a wholly-owned subsidiary.

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This press release contains forward-looking statements. The companies wishes to caution readers that the assumptions which form the basis for forward-looking statements with respect to or that may impact earnings for fiscal 1999, and thereafter, include many factors that are beyond the companies' ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market conditions and the behavior of other market participants. Other factors include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, economic conditions in the companies' service territory, fluctuations in energy-related commodity prices, conversion activity, other marketing efforts and other uncertainties.

CNG's recent news releases are available 24 hours a day on the Internet, by fax machine, or by voice recording. On the Internet, use CNG's Web site: www.cng.com. For faxing, call 1-800-758-5804 on a touch-tone phone and enter CNG's extension number, which is 203456. From a menu, you will then be able to select releases that will be faxed to you immediately without charge. For voice recordings, call 1-888-CNG-NEWS. This line is toll-free.

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For further information contact:
Dan Donovan
412-690-1370