PRESS RELEASE

[For Immediate Release - January 28, 2003]


Bangor Hydro-Electric Company [OTC: BANGN] announced today that it has made
a formal offer to purchase all 25,000 outstanding shares of its 7% Series of
Preferred Stock at a price of $115.00 per share in cash. The deadline for
shareholders to respond to the offer is Thursday, February 27, 2003.

The tender offer for the 7% series of preferred stock is intended to provide
shareholders with an opportunity to liquidate their shares at a price that
exceeds the historical trading price and is equivalent to or exceeds the
price of comparable preferred issues with greater liquidity.  Current
interest rate conditions allow us to refinance this portion of our
capitalization at rates that do not materially affect our overall cost of
capital.  Historically, the shares have traded only on an infrequent basis.

It is possible that following the completion of the tender offer that Bangor
Hydro will terminate the registration of the series and terminate its
obligation to file financial reports pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934.  On December 31, 2002, Bangor Hydro gave notice to holders of its
4% and 4 1/4% callable series of preferred stock, its only other publicly
traded securities, that it was calling those shares.

Bangor Hydro was organized under the laws of Maine in 1924. Since October,
2001, Bangor Hydro has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Emera, Inc. of
Halifax, Nova Scotia, as the result of a merger transaction pursuant to
which Emera acquired all of Bangor Hydro's outstanding shares of common
stock for cash.

The 7% series of preferred stock is Bangor Hydro's oldest series of publicly
traded securities, having been issued by Bangor Street Railway and Electric
Company, a corporate predecessor of Bangor Hydro, between 1910 and 1924.

Georgeson Shareholder Securities Corporation has been retained by Bangor
Hydro to serve as Dealer Manager for the offer, Georgeson Shareholder
Communications, Inc. has been retained to serve as Information Agent, and
EquiServe Trust, N.A. has been retained to serve as Depository.  Questions
regarding the terms of the offer should be directed to the Information
Agent, at (866) 328-5445 (toll-free).

Shareholders of record will be receiving copies of the offer and related
exhibits by mail directly from the information agent.  Shareholders whose
shares are held through a broker should receive the offer and related
exhibits from their broker.  Holders of Bangor Hydro's 7% series of
preferred stock are strongly encouraged to read the offer and related
exhibits because they contain important information about the offer.

Bangor Hydro has also filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a
Schedule TO and related exhibits. The Schedule TO and related exhibits will
be available without charge at the Securities and Exchange Commission
website at www.sec.gov. All preferred stockholders of record at the
commencement of the tender offer will also be able to obtain, without
charge, copies of these documents from Bangor Hydro.

Safe-Harbor Statement

This statement contains certain statements that are neither reported
financial results nor other historic information. These statements are
forward looking statements within the meaning of the safe-harbor provisions
of the U.S. federal securities laws. Because these forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual future results may
differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the statements. Many
of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the
company's ability to control or estimate precisely, the satisfaction of
other conditions relating to a commencement of a tender offer, future market
conditions and responses by competitors to deregulation, new regulatory or
legislative requirements, the future actions or decisions of federal or
state governmental regulators, the timing and extent of changes in supply
and demand of, and prices of, gas and electricity and other risk factors
detailed in Bangor Hydro-Electric Company's reports filed with the SEC.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this document.