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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
South Dakota Public Utilities Commission
Contact: Pamela A. Bonrud or Bonnie Bjork
Phone Number: 605-773-3201
Date: June 26, 2003

Sign up for the Telemarketing "Do Not Call List" will begin on Friday

Friday is the day for Do Not Call registration to start in South Dakota. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, along with the Federal Trade Commission, will announce the Toll-Free telephone number and secured internet address where consumers can register for both the National and South Dakota Do-Not-Call Lists tomorrow. Consumers will be able to sign up immediately.

"Signing up on the Do-Not-Call List is free and easy and will end or significantly decrease telephone solicitations." says PUC Vice Chairman Gary Hanson. "We encourage people to register both their home telephones and personal cell phones."

"Friday will be a landmark day for South Dakota consumers," adds PUC Chairman Bob Sahr. "Getting the Do-Not-Call List passed into law was our top consumer protection issue."

Details about the program, including answers to frequently asked questions are available at a PUC Web site: www.sddonotcall.com.

After the initial sign up period, telemarketers will have to obtain a copy of the register and then cannot call telephone numbers on the list. It is expected that telemarketing calls will decrease beginning in October. Companies who call consumers after that date will be subject to a fine of up to $5,000 per violation. South Dakotans will be able to register complaints with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.

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The Public Utilities Commission will hold a news conference on June 27, 2003, at 10:30 A.M. CDT in the Embassy Room at the Sioux Falls Holiday Inn City Center. Simultaneously with the press conference, the PUC will issue a statewide press release containing the Toll-Free telephone number and Web site address for consumers to use when signing up for the National and Statewide Do Not Call lists.