News Release Aug. 01, 2000

(The Woodlands, Texas) Pantellos Group, founded by 21 leading North American energy and utility companies, today named William J. McMahon III as chairman, CEO and president. Graham L. Collins was named Pantellos’ chief operating officer. Pantellos, which will operate and manage an open, independent Internet marketplace for the exchange of goods and services between the energy industry and its suppliers, also introduced its board of directors:

1. Lynne Ellyn, vice president and CIO of San Francisco-based Organic, Inc. Ellyn is responsible for providing the technical infrastructure and software applications necessary for Organic to manage its significant worldwide growth. 
2. William Hasler, Dean Emeritus of Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. Hasler is also Co-CEO of Aphton Corporation, a public bio-pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco. 
3. Stephen McMenamin, vice president of eCommerce of Edison International (EIX), headquartered in Rosemead, Calif. McMenamin previously led Southern California Edison’s customer service organization. 
4. A.R. Mullinax, senior vice president and chief e-business officer of Duke Energy. Mullinax is also senior vice president of global sourcing for North Carolina-based Duke. 
5. Robert Murray, vice president and CFO of New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group. Murray previously was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. 
6. Gene Richter, former chief supply officer (retired) for IBM. Richter is also on the board of Isuppli.com, an electronics exchange and is a multiple winner of the Medal of Professional Excellence for his success in re-engineering major supply chains at IBM, Ford, Black and Decker and Hewlett-Packard.

McMahon has 23 years of experience in the energy and power generation business. He was founder, president and CEO of Stone & Webster Sonat Energy Resources LLC – a Massachusetts-based joint venture that managed the energy and utilities for major industrial clients. McMahon has also served as president of S&W Energy Services, vice president and general manager of Deutsche Babcock Environmental Systems and led domestic and international sales and marketing for DB Riley Consolidated. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in business administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Graham Collins, a primary architect of Pantellos, was previously a director in PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) energy consulting practice in Houston. He was also one of the global leaders of PwC’s Full Value Procurement and Supply Chain service lines. Collins has experience in all facets of the integrated oil, gas and utilities industries through client services and a 10-year management career at Shell Canada Limited. He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Dartmouth College and his Master of Science degree in business administration from the University of Calgary.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, Pantellos’ board of directors consists of three independent members (Ellyn, Hasler and Richter), three consortium shareholders (McMenamin, Mullinax and Murray) and Pantellos’ chief executive officer. Pantellos’ founders are providing an initial capitalization of $100 million. It will use the proceeds to fund development of technology solutions and provide necessary capital for ongoing operations.

Pantellos members are: American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), Carolina Power & Light (NYSE: CPL), Cinergy (NYSE: CIN), Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), Detroit Edison (NYSE: DTE), Dominion Resources (NYSE: D), Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Edison International (NYSE: EIX), El Paso Energy (NYSE: EPG), Entergy (NYSE: ETR), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), FPL Group (NYSE: FPL), GPU (NYSE: GPU), PacifiCorp (subsidiary of Scottish Power, ADR: SPI), PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG), Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG), Reliant Energy (NYSE: REI), Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), Southern Company (NYSE: SO), TXU (NYSE: TXU) and Unicom (NYSE: UCM).

For more information, please visit the Pantellos Website at: www.pantellos.com.

About Pantellos

Pantellos is a Greek name meaning "total fulfillment." The name reflects the company’s goal to provide total e-supply-chain solutions to its customers. To date, Pantellos has initiated contact with some 1,200 suppliers to forge strong, mutually beneficial relationships and to partner on areas of interest and opportunity to supply chain participants. Regional workshops are being scheduled to provide more opportunity for information exchange and dialogue.

Pantellos plans to be the leading provider of e-supply-chain solutions to all sectors in the electric, gas and water utility and energy industries. Pantellos will provide an open environment that will enable all customers to conduct supply chain activities and transactions through its secure, Internet-based eMarketplace. It is estimated that these services and solutions will provide significant cost savings for both customers and suppliers, and make the $130 billion North American utility and energy supply market dynamically accessible to all participants. Pantellos will offer a suite of value-added services to participants on a fee-for-service basis including market analyses, compliance reporting, asset disposal, and management consulting services.

This news release includes certain statements, estimates, forecasts and projections provided by Pantellos ("the Company") which reflect the Company's views regarding the anticipated future performance of the Company and trends in the electric power and natural gas industries, which constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements and estimates reflect various assumptions concerning anticipated results and industry trends, which assumptions may or may not prove to be correct. There can be no assurances that any anticipated trends will actually develop or that any projected results are attainable or will be realized. Actual results may differ materially from the projections set forth herein. No representations are made by the Company as to the accuracy of such statements and estimates. Statements and estimates included herein with respect to the Company’s future strategies, policies or practices are subject to change at any time without prior notice.