EDITORS: Please do not use "Pacific Gas and Electric" or "PG&E" when referring to PG&E Corporation or its National Energy Group. The PG&E National Energy Group is not the same company as Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the utility, and is not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Company do not have to buy products or services from the National Energy Group in order to continue to receive quality regulated services from Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

PG&E CORPORATION SAYS NEW UNIT READY TO PROVIDE POWER DURING PEAK DEMAND

Bowling Green, OH -- PG&E Corporation’s (NYSE:PCG) National Energy Group today announced that it has begun operation of a 16-megawatt (MW) General Electric Frame 5 electric generator in Bowling Green, Ohio, designed to provide power during peak demand times and help prevent power shortages. The company plans to begin operation of a second, 30-MW generator within the next few weeks as part of its initial efforts to meet summer electricity demand in the year 2000. The units, which operate using clean-burning natural gas, can be started and quickly brought on line, enabling the company to respond to increases in power demand. Together, the two units will be capable of delivering enough electricity for approximately 49,000 homes.

The company has also taken steps to minimize air emissions from the units. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR), an emissions control technology that is considered among the most effective available today, is being installed during the initial startup period to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides. The technology makes these units among the cleanest of their kind.

“These units are part of the solution to the summer power crunch that customers in the Midwest and Ohio are experiencing,” said Kent Fickett, senior vice president for PG&E Corporation’s National Energy Group. “What’s more, they are meeting this critical need while employing technology that minimizes environmental impacts.”

PG&E Corporation, with 1999 operating revenues of almost $21 billion and operations in 21 states, markets energy services and products throughout North America through its National Energy Group. PG&E Corporation's businesses also include Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the Northern and Central California utility that deliver natural gas and electricity to one in every 20 Americans, and Pacific Venture Capital, LLC which manages a portfolio of investments in growing energy and telecommunications companies.