Major Natural Gas Storage Expansion Will Help Meet Winter Needs of Growing Northwest...

Major Natural Gas Storage Expansion Will Help Meet Winter Needs of Growing Northwest Region

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(Business Wire)--
Utilities in the Pacific Northwest will have greater assurance of
meeting customers' rising wintertime peaks in natural gas use because
of a major expansion project underway at the Northwest's largest
underground natural gas storage reservoir, operated by Puget Sound
Energy in Washington state.

On March 30, 2008, PSE crews finished drilling the last of 10
wells - completing an expansion project phase that began in June 2007,
at the Jackson Prairie Natural Gas Storage Facility in Lewis County.
Ongoing work has now shifted to installing new piping and compressors
to inject and withdraw natural gas stored underground.

Scheduled for completion in November 2008, the $42 million project
will boost the reservoir's natural gas withdrawal capability by 35
percent - from 850 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to 1.15
billion cubic feet per day.

"Expanding Jackson Prairie will ensure that our growing customer
base will have reliable service on even the coldest winter days," said
Kimberly Harris, executive vice president and chief resource officer
at PSE. "The existing natural gas transportation system, on its own,
simply can't deliver enough natural gas from Canada and the Rockies to
meet our growing region's peak wintertime daily demands. We'll be able
to store and withdraw significantly more natural gas to supplement the
regional pipeline system and keep people's homes warm."

After the expansion, Jackson Prairie will be capable of satisfying
the natural gas requirements of approximately 1.2 million households
on the most frigid, midwinter days - or more than one-fourth of the
Northwest's total peak demand. The expansion project will increase, by
10 percent, the total amount of natural gas available on a peak day -
both from natural gas transportation pipelines and from storage - to
the region's utilities.

Developed in the early 1960s, Jackson Prairie currently can store
and redeliver 24 billion cubic feet of natural gas. PSE, which owns
the 3,200-acre reservoir jointly with Avista Corp. and the Williams
Companies, Inc., has been steadily increasing the facility's storage
capacity over the past several years. The goal is to reach 30 billion
cubic feet of working storage capacity by 2012.

Harris noted that Jackson Prairie not only is instrumental in
maintaining the wintertime reliability of the region's natural gas
system, but it also stabilizes the price of natural gas for consumers.
PSE is able to buy natural gas supply in the summer, when prices tend
to be lower, and store it at Jackson Prairie to serve homes and
businesses in the winter, when wholesale prices usually run higher.

About Puget Sound Energy

Washington state's oldest and largest energy utility, with a
6,000-square-mile service area stretching across 11 counties, Puget
Sound Energy (PSE) serves more than 1 million electric customers and
729,000 natural gas customers. PSE, a subsidiary of Puget Energy
(NYSE:PSD), meets the energy needs of its growing customer base
primarily in Western Washington through incremental, cost-effective
energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and
far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE
employees are dedicated to providing great customer service to deliver
energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally
responsible. For more information, visit www.PSE.com.

Puget Sound Energy
Davina Gruenstein, 1-888-831-7250

Copyright Business Wire 2008