Dominion Virginia Power Gets Amended Air Permit For Southwest Virginia Power Station

Dominion Virginia Power Gets Amended Air Permit For Southwest Virginia Power
Station
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issues minor amendment to
permit

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dominion Virginia Power said
today that a state air permit for its Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center has
been amended to bring the permit into compliance with an order from the
Richmond Circuit Court.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) approved the amendment
today following the issuance of a court order remanding the permit to the
department for removal of a condition relating to the establishment of mercury
emission levels. Judge Margaret P. Spencer found that condition in violation
of the federal Clean Air Act, but upheld the permit in all other respects. She
found a second permit to be in compliance with the law in all respects,
rejecting an effort to have that permit overturned.

"The Virginia DEQ's efficient handling of our request allows Dominion to
maintain its schedule with a power station project that is vital to meeting
the future energy needs of Virginia and to helping the economic well-being of
the southwest Virginia," said David A. Christian, chief executive officer of
Dominion Generation. "Dominion believes that the air permits for the Virginia
City project may be the toughest ever issued."

In her ruling, Spencer dismissed six of the seven legal challenges to the two
permits made by a group of plaintiffs. Ruling for the plaintiffs on a single
issue, the judge held that a so-called "escape hatch" condition could be
construed to allow establishment of mercury limits after commencement of
construction, in violation of the Clean Air Act. Spencer sent the permit back
to the VDEQ directing it to remove that provision.

Dominion said after Spencer's ruling that it had no objection to removing the
clause from the permit and applied for an amendment. The company said today
that it has no plans to appeal the court ruling.

The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center project, which began construction June
2008, is more than 36 percent complete and is scheduled to begin commercial
operation in mid-2012.

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the
nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,000
megawatts of generation. Dominion serves retail energy customers in 12
states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at
http://www.dom.com/.

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power

Media: Greg Edwards, +1-276-762-2036, or +1-804-771-6115.
Gregory.P.Edwards@dom.com, or Analysts: Greg Snyder, +1-804-819-2383,
James.Gregory.Snyder@dom.com