Holquist Named President of ALLETE Properties, Inc.

Holquist Named President of ALLETE Properties, Inc. (Fort Myers, FL) – Laura Holquist has been named president of ALLETE Properties, Inc. by the ALLETE Properties, Inc. board of directors. ALLETE Properties owns or controls companies that market land throughout Florida, including Lehigh Corporation and Cape Coral Holdings in Southwest Florida, Palm Coast Holdings in northeast Florida, and Sugarmill Woods, located north of Tampa.

Holquist, 40, most recently was senior vice president and treasurer of ALLETE Properties and president of Cape Coral Holdings and Lehigh Corporation. She will continue to lead the Southwest Florida operations along with her statewide responsibilities.

The board of directors also announced that Bill Livingston has been appointed vice president of ALLETE Properties, Inc. Livingston, 55, currently serves as president of Palm Coast Holdings for ALLETE Properties. From 1991 to 1996, Livingston was president of Lehigh Corporation. He will remain responsible for overseeing marketing, sales and acquisition activities at company-owned properties in Palm Coast and Sugarmill Woods.

ALLETE Properties’ real estate portfolio is part of ALLETE, Inc.’s investment business. ALLETE, Inc. is a multi-services company with corporate headquarters in Duluth, Minnesota. ALLETE’s holdings include the second largest wholesale automobile auction network in North America; the leading provider of independent auto dealer inventory financing; the largest investor-owned water utility in Florida and North Carolina; significant real estate holdings in Florida; and a low-cost electric utility that serves some of the largest industrial customers in the United States.

The statements contained in this release and statements that ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.