For Immediate Release
January 12, 2000

Potomac Electric Power Company (NYSE: POM) announced today that its unregulated subsidiary, Potomac Capital Investment Corp., completed the sale of its 50 percent interest in the Cove Point LNG Limited Partnership to a subsidiary of Columbia Energy Group for total proceeds of $40.7 million.

"The completion of this sale will allow PCI to focus its capital resources on its high-growth telecommunications strategy," said John D. McCallum, PCI President and Co-chairman of Starpower Communications, a provider of cable television, telephone and high-speed Internet access in the Washington metropolitan area.

The sale gives Columbia total ownership of the Cove Point liquefied natural gas terminal. PCI and Columbia had owned the Lusby, Md., facility equally since 1994.

Pepco is an investor-owned utility that provides electricity in Washington, D.C. and the Maryland suburbs, serving nearly 700,000 customers. Pepco, through its family of unregulated subsidiaries, 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. Additional information on Pepco and its subsidiaries may be found on the Company's Web site at www.pepco.com.

Information contained in this press release may include forward-looking statements that should be considered in light of the risks inherent in the company`s business, as discussed in the company`s public documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission