Catamount Energy Corp. Announces the Sale of Its Gauley River Hydro Facility to CHI Energy Inc.

Business Editors

RUTLAND, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2002

Catamount Energy Corp. (Catamount) announced today that it has closed on the sale of its 80-megawatt West Virginia hydro facility - the Summersville Hydro Project located on the Gauley River - to CHI Energy Inc.

"This sale accomplishes a major milestone in Catamount's plan to rebalance its portfolio, pay down debt, and focus on the wind energy sector for future growth," noted Bruce Peacock, a managing director of Catamount.

In October, Catamount announced the sale of its interest in a gas plant located in the United Kingdom. "The proceeds of both sales are being used to pay down our corporate revolver to a much lower level, as we want to run a conservatively financed business," noted James Moore, the CEO of Catamount. "The net result of the sales leaves us with a portfolio that generates cash flow sufficient to fully fund Catamount's 2003 operations, including overheads and development expenses. This allows Central Vermont Public Service Corp. (CVPS), our parent, the option of investing equity in the wind business without any need to fund ongoing operations."

"As a shareholder of CVPS, I like the position we have with a self-sufficient, conservatively financed business focused on the rapidly growing wind energy sector," Moore stated. "Our objective is to position Catamount to give CVPS a significant equity kicker on the upside from a growth business that provides no risk to CVPS's balance sheet or dividend-paying ability, which is how you want to position a utility if it is going to have any non-regulated activities at all," Moore concluded.

Catamount, the non-regulated subsidiary of CVPS (NYSE: CV), has been in the business of providing clean, cost-competitive electricity in the U.S. and Europe for over 15 years. Catamount is a developer, owner, and operator of wind energy projects.

More information on Catamount is available on the Internet at www.catenergy.com.

This press release includes statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "believe", "estimate", "project", "expect", or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, future trends in wind and other projects, acceptance of the Companies products and services in the marketplace, competitive factors, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks. By making these forward-looking statements, the Companies undertake no obligation to update these statements for revision or changes after the date of this release.