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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.27


                          PENSION RESTORATION PLAN FOR
                          THE COLUMBIA GAS SYSTEM, INC.


1.    Effective Date

      As amended and restated effective March 1, 1997.

2.    Purpose

      The purpose of this Pension Restoration Plan for The Columbia Gas System,
      Inc. (the "Plan") is to provide for the payment of certain pension and
      pension-related benefits to certain key management employees so that the
      total pension and pension-related benefits of such employees will be
      determined on the same basis as is applicable to all other employees of
      The Columbia Gas System, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries (the "Company"). The
      creation of this Plan was made necessary by certain benefit limitations
      which were imposed on the Company's Retirement Income Plan for Columbia
      Gas System Companies (hereinafter called the "Basic Plan") by the Employee
      Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended from time to time, and
      compensation limits imposed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

3.    Administration

      This Plan will be administered by the Basic Plan's Retirement Board in a
      manner consistent with the administration of the Basic Plan, except that
      this Plan will be administered as a plan, which is not intended to meet
      the qualification requirements of Section 401 of the Internal Revenue
      Code. The Retirement Board's decisions in all matters involving the
      interpretation and application of this Plan will be final.

4.    Eligibility

      Key management employees whose pension or pension-related benefits under
      the Basic Plan are limited by the provisions of Sections 2.10 and/or 5.7
      of the Basic Plan or due to deferrals made by the employees in The
      Columbia Gas System, Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan (the "DCP") will be
      eligible for benefits under this Plan. In no event will an employee who is
      not entitled to benefits under the Basic Plan be eligible for a benefit
      under this Plan.

5.    Amount of Benefit

      The benefit payable to an eligible employee or his beneficiary(ies) under
      this Plan will equal the excess, if any, of (a) from (b) where:

      (a)   the benefits which would have been paid to such employee or on his
            behalf to his beneficiary(ies) under the Basic Plan, if the
            provisions of such plan were
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            administered without regard to (i) the special benefit limitations
            set forth in Sections 2.10 and/or 5.7 of the Basic Plan or (ii) the
            employee's deferral into the DCP; and

      (b)   the benefits which are payable to such employee or on his behalf to
            his beneficiary(ies) under the Basic Plan.

6.    Payment of Benefits

      Payment of benefits under this Plan will be coincident with the payment of
      the limited benefit payments made to the employee or on his behalf to his
      beneficiaries under the Basic Plan.

7.    Funding

      It is the intention of the Board of Directors of The Columbia Gas System,
      Inc. that this Plan be funded to an appropriate level using appropriate
      funding devices (including trust agreements) which will secure the
      benefits which are to be delivered to the eligible employees. In the event
      full funding has not been achieved at retirement, the balance of the
      benefits due under this Plan will be payable from the general assets of
      the Company. The Retirement Board will report annually to the Board of
      Directors on the status of funding for this Plan.

8.    Valuation of Benefits

      Since this Plan may not be fully funded for a given eligible employee upon
      the event-giving rise to the entitlement to a benefit, the Retirement
      Board shall determine the appropriate present value or benefit level after
      giving consideration to all pertinent factors.

9.    Employees' Rights

      An employee's rights under this Plan, including his rights to vested
      benefits, will be the same as his rights under the Basic Plan, except that
      he will not be entitled to any payments from the Trust Fund maintained
      under said Basic Plan on the basis of any benefits to which he may be
      entitled under this Plan. Further, in the event an employee or retiree
      becomes an employee or consultant of a competitor of The Columbia Gas
      System, Inc. or any of its affiliated companies, the Retirement Board may,
      at its sole discretion, discontinue all benefits under this Plan to that
      employee or retiree.

10.   Amendment and Discontinuance

      The Company expects to continue this Plan indefinitely but reserves the
      right to amend or discontinue it if, in its sole judgment, such a change
      is deemed necessary or desirable. However, if the Company should amend or
      discontinue this Plan, the Company will be liable for any benefits accrued
      under this Plan (determined on the basis of each employee's
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      presumed termination of employment as of the date of such amendment or
      discontinuance) as of the date of such action. Further, if the Company
      should increase benefits payable under the Basic Plan, it is the Company's
      intention to extend the increase in benefits to benefits accrued under
      this Plan.

11.   Use of the Masculine Pronoun

      The masculine pronoun used herein shall include the feminine, unless the
      context shall clearly indicate otherwise.