HAMLET, N.C. (March 5, 2001) - Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) subsidiary NCNG has completed construction of the 84-mile Sandhills Pipeline across south-central North Carolina, linking the Williams Transcontinental Interstate Pipeline in Iredell County with a natural gas-fueled power plant under construction in Richmond County, south of Hamlet.

Workers had begun construction of the 30-inch-diameter, buried steel pipeline in the fall and completed the project in about five months. The construction work force peaked at approximately 500. The vast majority of the pipeline, about 73 miles, was built on an existing NCNG pipeline corridor, with new rights of way acquired in Anson and Richmond counties.

CP&L, Progress Energy's Carolinas electric utility, already has an agreement with Williams for long-term gas supply off the south-to-north Transco pipeline to CP&L's 620-megawatt electric generating plant in Richmond County, which is nearing completion. When it begins service in June, the Sandhills Pipeline will initially handle 200-300 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and will be expandable (with the addition of compression equipment) to 800 million cubic feet per day. That amount is sufficient to accommodate full buildout of the Richmond facility and enhance opportunities for increased natural gas supply in the region.

CP&L's Richmond County Plant is expected to begin operation in June. A second phase, planned for June 2002, will add 625 MW of electric generation at the site. In all, CP&L is adding more than 2,200 MW of new generation in North Carolina between 2001 and 2003. Most of that increase will be at the Richmond County site and at another in Rowan County west of Salisbury.

In addition to meeting the needs of the electric generating plant south of Hamlet, the new pipeline provides improved reliability of natural gas supply for current and future NCNG customers throughout southern and eastern North Carolina. And having the Sandhills Pipeline in place will enable NCNG to upgrade its main gas supply line for eastern North Carolina, without having to interrupt service.

Progress Energy is a Fortune 500 diversified holding company headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. Progress Energy is one of the top 10 investor-owned utilities in the United States, with more than 19,000 megawatts of capacity and $7 billion in annual revenues. The company's diverse portfolio includes two major electric utility companies, CP&L and Florida Power, as well as NCNG, SRS, Progress Telecom and Energy Ventures, which has been created to manage wholesale energy marketing and trading, merchant generation, fuel properties, as well as barge and rail subsidiaries. These companies serve 2.8 million customers across the Southeast, providing electricity, natural gas, energy services and broadband capacity. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com.