Exhibit 99-1
Vectren Corporation
P.O. Box 209
Evansville, IN 47702-0209
October 31, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vectren Completes Acquisition
of DPL's Natural Gas Distribution Business
Evansville, Indiana (October 31, 2000) - Vectren Corporation
(NYSE:VVC) today announced that it has completed the acquisition
of the natural gas assets from The Dayton Power and Light Company
(DP&L) a wholly owned subsidiary of DPL, Inc. (NYSE:DPL). The
acquisition will become effective immediately prior to midnight
tonight, October 31, 2000. The business will operate under the
name Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, Inc.
The acquisition of DP&L's natural gas distribution business will
add approximately 310,000 residential, commercial, industrial,
and government gas customers to Vectren's existing customer base
of more than 650,000 gas and electric customers. The service
area of DP&L's natural gas business includes 16 counties in West
Central Ohio and is contiguous to Vectren's distribution system
in East Central Indiana.
"The acquisition of DP&L's natural gas distribution business will
enable Vectren to provide energy-related products and services to
nearly one million customers in the Midwest," said Niel C.
Ellerbrook, Chairman and CEO of Vectren. "We believe this is
another important step in moving us toward our objective of
becoming the leading regional provider of energy and related
applied technology solutions. With our neighboring services
territories, DP&L's natural gas distribution business is a
logical extension of our Indiana distribution operations."
Mr. Ellerbrook continued, "This acquisition brings a talented
group of employees to us and we look forward to having them join
our team as we continue to tackle the challenges of the ever
changing industry and
seize the opportunities those changes create. Vectren remains
focused on long-term growth and diversification opportunities
that generate shareholder value."
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Vectren also announced today the key leadership for the Ohio
operations.
Doug Petitt, who formally served DPL in a number of areas, has
been named president of Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio,
responsible for government and public affairs initiatives in that
state. He will report to Andy Goebel, Vectren president and chief
operating officer.
Steve Bramlage, who previously had positions in operations and
engineering at Dayton, will be director of operations for the
Ohio division, reporting to Tim Hewitt, currently president of
Indiana Gas Company.
Vectren Corporation also stated that it will soon announce the
reorganization of its entire Regulated Operations, including the
combination of the Ohio and Indiana energy delivery functions,
into a single business unit effective January 1, 2001. At that
time, Tim Hewitt will become president of Vectren's Energy
Delivery Business Unit and will report to J. Gordon Hurst, who
will continue as executive vice president of Vectren and
president of the utility group.
Hewitt joined Indiana Gas in 1981 as manager of merchandise
sales. He was vice president of operations and engineering
before he was promoted to president. His other positions
included division sales manager, director of marketing and
planning, vice president of marketing and vice president of sales
and field operations. He is a graduate of Wabash College and
earned an MBA from Indiana University. He was in retail
management before joining Indiana Gas.
Petitt was employed by Dayton Power & Light for 11 years serving
in a number of areas. His previous responsibilities included
natural gas and electric distribution operations, marketing and
sales, demand side management programs, the Solution Center and
the Energy Resources Center. He earned a BS degree in economics
from the University of Louisville and an MBA from the University
of Dayton.
Bramlage worked for Dayton Power & Light for 32 years. He has
held field management positions in gas and electric construction,
operations and customer service. He is a Dayton native who earned
his degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from the
University of Dayton.
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Vectren Corporation is proud of its history of quality customer
service in Indiana. The addition of the Dayton area gas business
makes Vectren a larger company with the resources to continue to
provide competitively priced energy and to meet customers' need
in the future.
Vectren will maintain the operation offices formerly run by
Dayton Power & Light in the Ohio communities of Englewood,
Trotwood, Centerville, Fairborn, Wilmington, Bellefontaine and
Troy. These facillities are operation centers only.
Vectren is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville,
Indiana. Through its regulated subsidiaries, Vectren offers gas
and/or electricity to nearly one million customers in adjoining
service areas that cover nearly two-thirds of Indiana and west
central Ohio. Vectren's non-regulated subsidiaries and
affiliates currently offer energy-related products and services,
fiber-optic based communication services, and utility related
services including materials management, debt collections, line
locating, meter reading and trenching services to customers
throughout the surrounding region.
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This news release may contain forward-looking statements
concerning our anticipation of future events that involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors
which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the
control of the company could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-
looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks
and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic or
weather conditions affecting future sales, changes in markets for
energy services, changing energy market prices, legislative and
regulatory changes, including revised environmental requirements,
industry restructuring, availability and cost of capital and
other similar factors.
Investor Contact: Steven M. Schein, VP/Investor Relations (812) 491-
4209
[email protected]
Media Contact: Jeffrey W. Whiteside, VP/Corporate Communications (812)
491-4205
[email protected]
