XENERGY Press Release:

AUSTIN, Tx. (02/28/2002) - Over half of the electricity
purchased by large customers in Texas now comes from
competitive suppliers rather than the local utility, a panel
of Texas energy suppliers revealed Tuesday at an energy
forum sponsored by XENERGY in Austin.  At least 750,000
Texans will switch their electric suppliers by the end of
the year, predicted Texas Public Utility Commissioner Brett
Perlman.

These optimistic assessments were presented at XENERGY's
Thirteenth Executive Forum, held at Austin's Four Seasons
Hotel on February 26-27.  XENERGY is a national energy
consulting firm that has performed over $10 million of
research thus far on retail energy markets throughout the
country.

The forum featured a "who's who" list of speakers including
Texas Public Utility Commissioners Rebecca Klein and Brett
Perlman, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO
Thomas Noel, former Texas Senator David Sibley, New Power
Vice President Kathleen Magruder, Centrica Senior Vice
President Nick Fulford, Reliant Energy Solutions President
Jim Ajello and Sempra Energy Solutions President Robert
Dickerman, and XENERGY experts.

Labeling Texas deregulation a success thus far, Commissioner
Klein described the market as "healthy" and told attendees
that customers switching electric suppliers are already
seeing savings of up to 12%.  Residential switches are
likely to increase this spring and summer when the state
unfolds a multimillion dollar consumer education program.

XENERGY CEO Kelly Warner praised Texas for "continuing to
search for the promise that's inherent in deregulation" as
he opened the conference.  "All eyes are looking at Texas,"
Warner said, noting that Texas offers "one of the best
chances for competition to really work."

ERCOT CEO Thomas Noel told conference attendees that "This
is not a sprint --- this is a marathon." He referred to
electric deregulation as "a work in progress" but observed
that results to date are well ahead of most people's
expectations. He noted that "Texas is not California" with
regard to electric deregulation and also stated that Enron's
recent problems will not greatly impact the ERCOT market.

Former Senator Sibley, one of the main architects of Texas'
deregulation bill, noted the savings that consumers can
receive under the new law. "Residential customers must win
with deregulation or else it will be a failure," he said in
a luncheon address.  He indicated that if deregulation does
not succeed in Texas, it is not likely to succeed elsewhere.

New Power VP Kathleen Magruder stated, "Texas got the vast
majority of the rules right. Overall, we think the
deregulation program is a good one."  Centrica, Britain's
largest natural gas company (which also owns Energy
America), this week announced it would acquire New Power.
Centrica Senior VP Nick Fulford told forum attendees that
his company would bring scale and financial strength to New
Power while building brand recognition in North America.

The Austin forum was held in conjunction with XENERGY's
Retail Energy Markets (REM) 2001 study, a leading,
syndicated strategic information service for stakeholders in
restructured energy markets.  Authors of the REM study
announced that New Power, Reliant, TXU, and Green Mountain
currently hold the largest residential market share in
Texas, while TXU, Reliant, AES NewEnergy, Dynegy, Strategic
Energy, Calpine, First Choice, and Sempra are the leading
suppliers to large customers.

For more information on the Forum or XENERGY's REM 2001
Program, contact Bill Huss, Senior Vice President of
XENERGY, at (781) 273-5700 or bhuss@xenergy.com.

XENERGY is an energy consulting, information technology and
energy services firm headquartered in Burlington,
Massachusetts, with offices across the United States and in
Canada.  The company offers consulting services on a wide
range of energy issues, and works with utilities, energy
service companies, industrial and commercial customers,
institutions and government agencies.  Founded in 1975,
XENERGY is a wholly-owned subsidiary of KEMA Consulting.