ABB-Caminus Alliance Creates First End-to-End Solution For Energy Wholesaler/Retailer.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1999--

ABB Energy Information Systems and Caminus LLC announced today that the two companies have formed an alliance which will give customers the most comprehensive set of tools available for managing the business of providing energy to global markets. By combining products from both companies, the alliance creates a comprehensive end-to-end solution previously unavailable to the energy industry. For the first time, the vertically integrated energy supplier will have the ability to manage risk along the entire value chain, from wholesale acquisition of energy through retail sales.

As competitive conditions for electric and gas utilities across North America and Europe increase, energy suppliers will experience additional challenges, including severe pressure on retail margins and significant wholesale price volatility. The partnering of ABB and Caminus creates the only total software solution that enables energy retailers to meet both these business challenges systematically and successfully, by providing them with the ability to:

-- Offer and manage the increasingly sophisticated, customized

tariff schedules demanded by retail buyers - quickly, fully

costed and risk-assessed - however complex the load profile and

pricing structure;

-- Manage wholesale market risk with precise tools that enable

competitive pricing by eliminating the need to build in

significant safety margins for unquantified risk;

-- Aggregate full-granularity retail loads into risk-manageable

packages and comprehensively test the match between retail and

wholesale portfolios;

-- Accurately match the market exposure of residual unhedged

wholesale positions, using the latest risk management methods;

-- Simulate market and generation asset operation and optimize 

production schedules against wholesale trading positions; and,

-- Analyze the potential profitability of bids into power exchanges,

power pools and ISO ancillary markets.

Both ABB and Caminus are market leaders with a global focus. The Zai*Net suite of software products from Caminus comprises the leading risk management and trading system available in the energy market today with electricity and gas customers throughout North America and Europe. ABB's product suite has been leading the electric industry for years with business solutions from wholesale to retail. With centers of excellence in Sweden, Germany, England and the United States, ABB's quality product scope is matched only by their global presence.

The partnership will deliver significant competitive advantage to the market by combining the leading products in risk management, trading, physical operations and optimization, and retail management. ABB's products and services are in use by a large number of customers worldwide and Caminus boasts a global client base of more than 60 major energy enterprises. The combined strength of ABB and Caminus creates an international support network of over 600 professionals to implement the complete, end-to-end integrated solution addressing both the physical and financial aspects of energy trading. No other vendor can match their combined record of successful implementations or deliver the global services required to support the partnership's advanced information technology.

ABB Background:

ABB Energy Information Systems develops and markets a wide range of software products and systems to the electric power industry. ABB is the global leader in high-level information management, bulk power business management, decision support and forecasting for large power systems. It also provides applications for the emerging energy trading market allowing energy traders, energy service companies, and power exchanges to become more efficient in web-based trading, forecasting, bidding, and monitoring the bulk and retail power market. With office locations in Australia, Germany, Sweden, the UK, and the USA, ABB Energy Information Systems has the global response to your software needs - www.abbes.com.

ABB Energy Information Systems is a unit of ABB. ABB, with U.S. headquarters in Norwalk, Conn., serves customers in power generation, transmission, and distribution; automation; oil, gas, and petrochemicals; industrial products and contracting; and financial services. ABB had U.S. orders of approximately $6.1 billion in 1998 and employed about 20,000 at manufacturing and other facilities in 41 states http://www.abb.com/usa. Worldwide, ABB Group reported orders of $31 billion in 1998. The Group employs about 160,000 people in more than 100 countries http://www.abb.com/.

Caminus Background:

Caminus, an international company and leader in providing a strategic advantage to participants in the global energy market, is headquartered in New York, with offices in Houston, Texas; London and Cambridge, UK; and Berlin, Germany. Caminus' Zai*Net software is the foremost energy trading, risk management and scheduling system available in today's competitive energy markets. For recent news releases and other information on Caminus, visit the company Web site at www.caminus.com.