DUQUESNE LIGHT TO ADD POWER PLANT TO POLR PORTFOLIO.

Duquesne Power, LP, a newly formed subsidiary of Duquesne Light Company and Duquesne Light Holdings (NYSE:DQE) , has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the Sunbury generating station from WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE:WPS) for approximately $120 million, which includes inventories and other items.

The Sunbury plant will be used to serve Duquesne Light's residential and small commercial electric customers as part of the utility's post-2004 Provider of Last Resort (POLR) plan. As POLR provider, Duquesne Light supplies electricity to customers who have not selected an alternative generation supplier.

Closing on the transaction is conditioned on Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approval of Duquesne Light's POLR plan, currently anticipated to occur in the summer of 2004, as well as other related regulatory approvals.

Funding of the plant acquisition currently is expected to be from cash and other available sources.

The Sunbury station consists of six boilers supplying steam for four turbine generators, with a total rated coal-fired generating capacity of 402 megawatts. In addition, the station includes two oil-fired combustion-turbine generators and two diesel generators, with operating capacities of 42 megawatts and 5.5 megawatts, respectively. The facility, which is located on 216 acres of land in Snyder County, Pa., near the town of Shamokin Dam, provides power into the PJM Interconnection Regional Transmission Organization (RTO).

The output of the Sunbury station will be combined with a portfolio of wholesale power purchase contracts in order to provide Duquesne Light a full-requirements POLR-supply contract for the period Jan. 1, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2010.

As a means of managing supply risks and at the same time building long-term value for the company, Duquesne Light is focusing on a portfolio strategy to supply its post-2004 POLR load. This portfolio approach, which will include blocks of traditional wholesale contracts with multiple suppliers, is intended to increase long-term flexibility. The addition of a small generating station to the supply portfolio will benefit Duquesne Light's POLR customers as well as help to diversify risk. As the cornerstone of the supply portfolio, a generating asset will do the following:

-- provide assurance of a stable and reliable long-term supply of electricity;

-- enhance flexibility relative to the pricing of other contracts in the supply portfolio;

-- increase the ability to include long-term price protection for Duquesne Light customers in the proposed POLR filing;

-- mitigate credit and default risks of depending on any one energy supplier; and

-- facilitate the company's entry into the PJM RTO.

WPS acquired the Sunbury Station from Pennsylvania Power & Light in 1999 and has invested in excess of $31 million in the plant, including the installation of low Nox burners. Approximately 110 workers are employed at Sunbury, including 90 members of Local 1600 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

About Duquesne Light

Duquesne Light Holdings is an energy services holding company. Duquesne Light Company, its principal subsidiary, is a leader in the transmission and distribution of electric energy, offering technological innovation and superior customer service and reliability to more than half a million direct customers throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. Duquesne Light Holdings also includes several affiliate companies that complement its core electric-utility operations.

About WPS Resources Corporation

WPS Resources Corporation, based in Green Bay, Wis., is a holding company with both regulated and nonregulated energy-related subsidiaries. Its wholly owned regulated subsidiaries include Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, an electric and natural gas utility, and Upper Peninsula Power Company, an electric utility. Its wholly owned nonregulated subsidiaries include WPS Energy Services, Inc. and WPS Power Development, Inc.

For more information, call 412/393-1502 or visit http://www.duquesnelight.com.