CLEVELAND, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion East Ohio will include scratch and sniff cards in August monthly bills to remind customers of the odorant used to help identify natural gas leaks. To help customers detect natural gas-like leaks more easily, Dominion adds mercaptan, a chemical odorant, which gives natural gas its distinctive, sulfur-like aroma. Natural gas itself has no odor. If people smell a strong natural gas odor inside a house or building, they should leave the premises immediately and call the company's 24-hour emergency service line from a neighbor's house or other safe location, toll-free, at 1- 877-542-2630. Customers should not attempt to locate the natural gas leak by themselves. "We are reminding our customers of this important safety measure as part of our long-standing commitment to providing them safe, reliable energy service," notes Dominion East Ohio President Bruce C. Klink. In case of a natural gas leak or other emergency situation, Dominion East Ohio urges that customers: -- DO NOT turn any electrical switches, appliances or lights on or off. -- DO NOT unplug electrical appliances when there is a strong natural gas odor. -- DO NOT use telephones or cell phones in the area of a strong gas odor. -- DO NOT operate vehicles or power equipment where leaking gas may be present. -- DO NOT smoke or use lighters, matches or other open flames. This sounds like common sense, but there have been cases of customers or contractors causing a fire or an explosion by using a match or lighter to try to track the source of a natural gas leak. Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 26,500 megawatts of generation. Dominion serves retail energy customers in 11 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at http://www.dom.com/. DATASOURCE: Dominion East Ohio CONTACT: Media, Jeff Zidonis, +1-216-736-6228, or Neil Durbin, +1-216-736-6239, both of Dominion, or Dominion East Ohio's Media Relations department, 1-800-556-4400 Web site: http://www.dom.com/

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