Contact:

Christine Hopf-Lovette, E2I
(650) 855-2733
chopf@epri.com

For immediate release

DOE Joins Electricity Innovation Institute Partnership to Redesign the Nation's Power Delivery System

Palo Alto, Calif. - April 30, 2003 - The Electricity Innovation Institute (E2I) announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has joined its Consortium for Electric Infrastructure to Support a Digital Society (CEIDS). This unique public-private partnership is a multi-year effort to address the many complex issues needed to ensure the 21st century electric power delivery infrastructure will meet the demands of our increasingly digital society. DOE's team in this partnership will be lead by Jimmy Glotfelty, Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. Mr. Glotfelty will co-chair the CEIDS Steering Committee through which the consortium's partners guide and direct all research.

"Joining the CEIDS partnership will allow DOE to share successes and leverage resources in areas that are common to DOE's vision for a robust and reliable transmission infrastructure," said Mr. Glotfelty. "Innovative partnerships like this one are essential if we are to accelerate technical research and development and deploy innovative applications that provide benefits to consumers all across the United States."

Sharing leadership of the Steering Committee from the utility industry will be Bruce Germano, vice president, Retail Services, with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). The combination of leadership is designed to guarantee that the perspectives of both public and private sectors will guide this program to meet the country's advanced needs for greater power quality, reliability, and affordability.

"DOE's participation and leadership in the CEIDS initiative is important because the electricity infrastructure for the future must be guided by both public and private sector collaboration in strategic, public benefits research," said E2I president, T.J. Glauthier. "This ensures the greatest value to taxpayers by leveraging federal resources with that of the private sector."

Other members of CEIDS include leading energy and technology organizations, and to date include: Alliant Energy, the Bonneville Power Administration, Cisco Systems, Consolidated Edison, Electricite de France, Exelon, the Long Island Power Authority, the New York Power Authority, the Salt River Project, TXU, and We Energies.

For the first major project, the Steering Committee has selected a team headed by GE Global Research, with Lucent Technologies and others, to lead the initial design of an open architecture for the electricity transmission and distribution system. The 18-month, multi-million dollar project will define an overall technical framework for the design of communications and intelligent equipment necessary to support the "smart grid" electric system of the future. The architecture will provide a foundation for open, systems-based communications and distributed computing to enable "intelligent" delivery of electric power and connect consumers with energy markets. To learn more about CEIDS go to www.e2i.org/ceids.

E2I, an affiliate of EPRI, is a nonprofit organization that conducts strategic breakthrough research and development in energy-related science and technology. Bringing together public and private resources, E2I directs and supports science and technology innovation in electricity supply, delivery, and utilization to address the needs of the 21st century economy. Visit E2I at www.e2i.org.

EPRI, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., was established in 1973 as a non-profit center for public interest energy and environmental research. EPRI's collaborative science and technology development program now spans nearly every area of power generation, delivery and use. More than 1,000 energy organizations and public institutions in 40 countries draw on EPRI's global network of technical and business expertise. Visit EPRI at www.epri.com.