February 10, 2005

BRIDGEPORT - Charles Pointe, a 2,000-acre model community project currently under construction in Harrison County, has become Dominion Hope's latest major customer. Infrastructure construction at Charles Pointe has increased since the announcement last December that Wingate Inn would be part of the development.

Dominion Hope will work with Genesis Partners, originators of Charles Pointe, to provide natural gas service for current and future development at Charles Pointe. Dominion Hope, headquartered in Clarksburg, has been providing reliable service to its customers for more than a century.

“We're proud to work with fellow West Virginia companies as we grow Charles Pointe,” said Jamie Corton, managing partner of Genesis Partners. “This development is a commitment to our region and to the people who live, work and play here.”

Using an extensive 2,800-mile pipeline system, Dominion Hope supports thousands of residential, business and wholesale customers throughout 32 counties in West Virginia.

“Dominion is one of the nations leading energy providers, so you can count on our strength and experience,” said Robert Hagy, Dominion's director of gas delivery operations for West Virginia. “It's a winning collaboration for Dominion Hope, Charles Pointe, the region and the residents of the development."

One of the deciding factors in choosing Dominion, according to Corton, is the way Dominion promotes and assists development.

“Dominion has some great ideas for businesses that are expanding or on the move,” Corton said. “Their staff can get reliable information to customers quickly and confidentially - information that is vital in making a timely decision.”

"Through this relationship,” said Rob Stuart, director of development of Genesis Partners, “we're furthering our commitment to the region, and fostering growth in the area. Both entities are goal-oriented in that direction.”

The relationship is strengthened by Dominion Hope's dedicated engineering staff, which is handling the design and development of natural gas services for Charles Pointe.

"We want to provide all our customers a quality level of service," Hagy said. “Dominion Hope will continually utilize industry best practices and implement state-of-the-art technology in order to deliver dependable and safe energy to the customers at Charles Pointe.”

"Dominion Hope has demonstrated to us that they listen to the needs of their customers and value everyone on their natural gas system," said Stuart. "We know that if companies show respect for our present development concerns, then we can count on them to listen and show respect for the concerns of the future residents and businesses of Charles Pointe. We share the philosophy that a positive customer experience is paramount."

Charles Pointe is a master-planned neighborhood developed to create an accessible community shaped around the ever-growing desire for a better quality of life in West Virginia and the region. By combining residential, social, and business needs, Charles Pointe is poised to become West Virginia's model for community development.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 25,500 megawatts of generation. Dominion also serves retail energy customers in eight states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

This announcement follows on the heels of the February 2 news conference held by Genesis Partners to introduce S&A Homes as the exclusive builder of the homes at Charles Pointe. S&A is in the process of opening offices at Bridgeport in preparation to beginning home construction in the spring.