Providence Energy Announces Pipeline Services Contract.

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1999--

Providence Energy Corporation (ProvEnergy) (NYSE:PVY) today said that its ProvGas subsidiary is providing system control and monitoring services for the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) - a new 272-mile gas pipeline that runs from Quebec to Massachusetts.

ProvGas began providing 24-hour, seven-day-week remote electronic monitoring of the pipeline from its Allens Avenue facility shortly after the PNGTS pipeline began operating on March 10, 1999.

"We won this contract largely on the basis of the experience, training and technical capabilities of our employees who provide system control and monitoring for ProvGas," said James A. Grasso, vice president of public and government affairs for ProvGas and ProvEnergy. "We'll be able to provide these crucial system services to the PNGTS pipeline without capital investment or adding new personnel."

ProvGas will monitor the pipeline using a sophisticated Systems Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to watch the portion of the pipeline that runs from Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, on the Quebec border, to Westbrook, Maine, just outside of Portland. Through remote sensors and computers, ProvGas will make sure that the pipeline is functioning properly and that all system facilities are secure. ProvGas will also provide coverage for emergency calls.

The PNGTS pipeline has been moving natural gas daily since its first day of operation on March 10. The pipeline is authorized to transport up to 178 million cubic feet of Canadian natural gas to New England per day.

ProvEnergy is a diversified energy service company with operations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The company's two regulated natural gas distribution companies, ProvGas, the largest gas distribution company in Rhode Island, and North Attleboro Gas Company in nearby Massachusetts, have a total of 170,000 customers. ProvEnergy also owns Providence Energy Services Inc., a nonregulated marketer of natural gas, electricity, oil and energy services with customers in three states, as well as Super Service Oil, with more than 4,000 residential oil customers and a large commercial customer base, largely in Rhode Island.

ProvEnergy has paid cash dividends for 149 consecutive years, an achievement unmatched by any other natural gas-distribution company in the United States.

PNGTS is sponsored by an international consortium of energy companies including subsidiaries of Bay State Gas Company and its parent, NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI); El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG); Gaz Metropolitain and Company, Limited Partnership (MSE and TSE: GZM.UN); MCN Energy Group Inc. (NYSE:MCN); and TransCanada PipeLines Limited (MSE, TSE and NYSE:TRP).