New $8.5M Project to Improve Rockland Electric's Service

PEARL RIVER, NY June 12, 2007 — Rockland Electric Company today dedicated a newly completed $8.5-million project that is designed to improve electric service to approximately 6,500 customers in five Bergen County boroughs by completely rebuilding one electric substation, substantially upgrading another and expanding the transmission and distribution systems serving both facilities.

The project will directly benefit the boroughs of Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Alpine and Haworth. The completely rebuilt substation is in Cresskill and the substantially upgraded substation is in Closter.

Rockland Electric Company President and CEO John D. McMahon said, "This project means a brighter, more prosperous, more powerful future for these communities. It means more power for increased development and more reliable power delivery to meet the greater demand that comes with growth."

He added, "This $8.5-million investment reaffirms in a very tangible way Rockland Electric's dedication to this community, our commitment to our more than 80,000 customers, our confidence in its leadership, our embrace of its values and our faith in its future."

Project dedication ceremonies were held today in Cresskill at the rebuilt substation.

Rockland Electric Company Vice President of Operations Jim Tarpey said, "This project means greater comfort, health, peace of mind, prosperity and growth to these communities we serve and the people who live in them."

Over the past 12 months, O&R, Rockland Electric Company's parent company, has spent nearly $73 million to fortify and improve the reliability of its integrated electric system to meet summer peak demands for electricity. That investment builds on the more than $257 million O&R has spent over the past five years on electric system maintenance and electric system reliability capital projects.

That investment in the electric system paid off last summer when O&R's customers' demand for electricity, chiefly for air conditioning, broke O&R's all-time record for the second year in a row with 1,617 MW of demand on August 2, 2006. In fact, five of the top 10 highest demand records in O&R history were set last summer (The other top five were in 2005).