In an effort to get a jump on energy choice in Illinois when it begins in May, Peoples Energy Corp. and Dominion have formed an alliance to market retail gas and electricity to the nearly 3,000,000 residential consumers in Chicago and northern Illinois.

Under the agreement, Dominion’s retail marketing arm, Dominion Retail, Inc. and Peoples Energy Services, a subsidiary of Peoples Energy, will jointly perform marketing and customer service for residential natural gas and electricity customers in the Chicago area.

“This alliance leverages the respective strengths of both companies to meet the energy needs of households throughout the dynamic metropolitan Chicago market,” said Tom Patrick, president of Peoples Energy. “The Peoples-Dominion alliance promises residential customers excellent service and stable prices.”

This alliance is the second time the two companies have gotten together, building upon their successful joint development of power generation assets. Through Elwood Energy LLC, the partners co-own and operate a 1,350 MW gas-fired power plant 60 miles southwest of Chicago. Elwood began operations in 1999, and is one of the largest independent peaking power generation facilities in the country.

“Through experience, we know customer choice programs won’t work unless they bring consumers reliable energy products and services at competitive prices,” said Thomas F. Farrell, CEO of Dominion Energy. “Our cost-efficient approach to marketing can deliver the savings and stability promised by customer choice programs. This is part of Dominion’s overall plan to balance its energy producing assets with retail customers who actually use energy, and is a key component in our price risk management program.”

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