For Immediate Release
December 29, 1999

Pepco is Y2K Ready.

Even so, to be prepared for any eventuality, more than half of Pepco`s 3,700 employees will be working on New Year`s Eve for the Y2K rollover. A normal holiday weekend requires only a skeleton crew. Here`s the picture this year:

• Pepco`s six power plants will be operating or available;
• many substations that are normally unmanned will be staffed to handle emergencies;
• line repair crews will be on standby to respond immediately to any problems;
• more than 300 customer call takers will be "at the ready;" and
• managers and executives will be at the company`s newly created Emergency Command Center.

The company spent five years and more than $12 million to identify, assess, correct and test all operations and systems that might be vulnerable to a Y2K problem. The company also broadened its contingency plans to quickly resolve potential problems that could be related to the Y2K rollover. In June 1999, Pepco declared all its mission-critical systems as Y2K ready. Readiness actions include:

• Producing Electricity Fourteen of Pepco`s 16 major generating units at its six power plants underwent control system upgrades and extensive testing. The remaining two units use analog controls and required no upgrades;
• Transmitting and Delivering Electricity Out on Pepco`s electric delivery system, there is very little equipment that is digital on the utility poles, cross arms, or wires. Any energy distribution equipment that is computer-driven is part of Pepco`s energy management system that monitors and controls the flow of electricity on its grid, and its software is Y2K ready and tested;
• Customer Concerns Pepco`s 24-hour Call Center at 202-833-7500 will be staffed with more than 300 employees, and the company`s new outage reporting system 1-877-PEPCO62 is in operation to handle up to 100,000 calls per hour, if necessary. Pepco`s Web page at www.pepco.com will be devoted to Y2K information and updates.
• Backup Communications Staff is assigned to key locations to provide manual solutions to any unforeseen computer problems. If automated information systems fail, employees can gather information manually and relay it to the Control Center by the company`s internal two-way radio system.
• Emergency Plans. Pepco`s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John M. Derrick, Jr. and other Pepco senior officials will be in the company`s Emergency Command Center throughout the rollover to direct any emergency response efforts.

Pepco (NYSE: POM) is an investor-owned utility that provides electricity in Washington, D.C., and the Maryland suburbs. Through its family of unregulated subsidiaries, Pepco also offers electric energy, natural gas, high-speed Internet access, local and long-distance telephone, cable television and energy management services in the mid-Atlantic region.