Houston, Texas, September 20, 1999-El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG) and Bonneville Pacific Corporation (OTCBB:BPCO) announced today that they have entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger whereby El Paso will acquire all outstanding shares of Bonneville Pacific Corporation. The transaction, valued at approximately $63 million, subject to certain adjustments, is in addition to the value to be realized by the shareholders of Bonneville Pacific as a result of the company's previously announced sale of Bonneville Fuels Corporation. The transaction is expected to close by year-end or early in the first quarter of 2000, subject to approval by Bonneville Pacific's stockholders and appurtenant regulatory authorities.

El Paso will close on this transaction subsequent to the sale of Bonneville Fuels Corporation to CEC Resources. In an August 11, 1999 press release, CEC Resources and Bonneville Fuels Corporation announced that CEC Resources has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the stock of Bonneville Fuels Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company located in Denver, Colorado and wholly owned subsidiary of Bonneville Pacific Corporation. The purchase price is approximately $24 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, plus CEC Resources will assume the debt that remains with Bonneville Fuels. The Fuels transaction is scheduled to close by October 31, 1999.

The principal business segments of Bonneville Pacific Corporation being acquired by El Paso are a 50-percent interest, through Bonneville Nevada Corporation, of Nevada Cogeneration Associates #1 (Garnet Valley), an 85-megawatt power plant that sells power to Nevada Power Company under a long-term contract, and Bonneville Pacific Services, a wholly owned subsidiary, which provides operations and maintenance services under long term contract to the Garnet Valley and Black Mountain cogeneration facilities in the Las Vegas area.

"The Bonneville Pacific acquisition represents our first entry into the Nevada power market, one of the fastest growing regions in the country," said Greg Jenkins, president of El Paso Merchant Energy. "This continues the expansion of our power generation platform and brings significant net present value. We anticipate further expanding our presence in Western United States power generation projects in the near future."

With over $10 billion in assets, El Paso Energy Corporation provides energy solutions through its strategic business units: Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, El Paso Natural Gas Company, El Paso Field Services Company, El Paso Power Services Company, El Paso Energy Marketing Company, and El Paso Energy International Company. The company owns the nation's only integrated coast-to-coast natural gas pipeline system and has operations in natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, power generation, energy marketing, and international energy infrastructure development. On June 10, the stockholders of both El Paso Energy and Sonat Inc. overwhelmingly voted in favor of merging the two organizations. The merger is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of this year, concurrent with the completion of regulatory reviews. Visit El Paso Energy's web site at www.epenergy.com.

Bonneville Pacific Contact

Marcia Custer
(801) 363-2520

This release includes forward-looking statements and projections, made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The companies have made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release. While the companies make these statements and projections in good faith, neither the companies nor their managements can guarantee that the anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference should be made to the companies' (and their affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results.