AES and EDF to Acquire Reliant's Interest in Light; AES's Effort to Consolidate Ownership Interests in Brazil Makes Progress.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2000

The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) and EDF International S.A. ("EDF") announced today they have entered into an agreement to jointly acquire the 11.68% interest in Light Servicos de Eletricidade S.A. ("Light") owned by two subsidiaries of Reliant Energy (NYSE: REI) for $430 million.

Pursuant to the agreement, an AES subsidiary will purchase approximately 30% of the shares to be sold while EDF will purchase the remainder. The purchase of a portion of the shares remains subject to a right of first refusal by Companhia Siderurgica Nacional ("CSN").

Closing of the transaction will follow the expiry of this right of first refusal period and the receipt of certain consents and approvals from Brazilian regulatory authorities. The sale is expected to close by the end of 2000.

Light is an electric generation and distribution company, serving 2.9 million customers in and around Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AES and its partners (CSN, EDF and REI) acquired a controlling interest in Light in 1996. Light owns a controlling interest in Eletropaulo S.A., an electric distribution company serving 4.5 million customers in greater Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Mr. Thomas A. Tribone, Executive Vice President of AES, stated, "With this purchase of Reliant's control shares in Light we have almost completed the process of consolidating control of our Brazilian operations. The last

remaining step in this process is to complete the ongoing negotiations to purchase CSN's control shares. Our goal in this process is to control Eletropaulo and the telecom businesses in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro."

Mr. Dennis W. Bakke, President and Chief Executive Officer of AES, commented, "This is one additional step by AES in our quest to gain control and operating responsibility of our businesses around the world. Earlier this year we succeeded in gaining control of our plants in Northern Ireland. In addition, we continue to work on our ownership interests in our plants in China. We are delighted that we have arrived at a fair arrangement with Reliant for their interest in Light."

Business development milestones in 2000 include the following:

-- In September, AES began construction on a $340 million electric power plant
and liquefied natural gas ("LNG") importing facility located in the Dominican
Republic.

-- In August, AES completed the acquisition of a 59% stake in the 1,000 MW
hydroelectric facility of Hidroelectrica Alicura S.A. ("Alicura") in Argentina
from Southern Energy, Inc. ("SEI") and its partners.

-- In August, AES and REI announced that they have entered into an agreement
whereby a subsidiary of AES will acquire Reliant Energy International's
interest in El Salvador Energy Holdings, S.A. ("ESEH"), which owns three
distribution companies in El Salvador.

-- In August, subsidiaries of AES issued approximately $1 billion of
non-recourse project bonds to refinance outstanding debt at the Drax Power
Station, located in North Yorkshire, England.

-- In August, a subsidiary of AES entered into an agreement whereby AES will
acquire the 49% interest held by TransCanada PipeLines Limited in the Songo
Songo Gas-to-Electricity Project in Tanzania.

-- In July, AES and IPALCO Enterprises Inc. announced that they entered an
agreement whereby AES will acquire IPALCO Enterprises, Inc.

-- In June, AES acquired approximately 87% of the stock of C.A. La Electricidad
de Caracas, an integrated electricity company serving Caracas, Venezuela.

-- In June, a subsidiary of AES completed an $815 million non-recourse
financing for a circulating fluidized bed coal-fired facility currently being
built on the south coast of Puerto Rico.

-- In May, a subsidiary of AES acquired 100% of Tractebel Power Ltd., ("TPL")
from Tractebel S.A. With this transaction, AES owns approximately 92% of
NIGEN's common stock.

-- In May, AES announced that it won a bid to purchase a 70% interest in the
1,580 MW Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada for approximately $667
million.

-- In April, AES announced it intends to launch a tender offer to acquire all
outstanding common and preference shares of Brazilian generation company
Compania de Geracao de Energia Eletrica Tiete ("Tiete").

-- In March, a subsidiary of AES acquired for $8 million, GeoUtilities Inc., an
internet-based superstore for energy, telecom and other vital services.

-- In March, a subsidiary of AES completed a financing associated with 823 MW
of generating facilities in the Republic of Georgia. The financing included the
acquisition of the 600 MW Gardabani thermal plant and the establishment of
25-year concessions for the Khrami I and II hydro stations, which have a
combined capacity of 223 MW.

-- In March, a subsidiary of AES completed a $440 million non-recourse project
financing for AES Red Oak, an 832 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant in
Sayerville, New Jersey.

-- In February, AES announced that a subsidiary had reached an agreement with
the Bulgarian state-owned electric utility NEK, that will allow AES to build,
own, operate and transfer a $750 million lignite-fired power plant.

-- In January, a subsidiary of AES agreed to acquire 59% of the outstanding
preferred (non-voting) shares of Eletropaulo S.A. ("Eletropaulo").

-- In January, a subsidiary of AES and Caterpillar Inc. reached a service
agreement for multiple energy products that will result in the construction of
a 45 MW cogeneration plant in Mossville, Illinois.

AES is a leading global power company comprised of competitive generation, distribution and retail supply businesses in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.

The company's generating assets include interests in one hundred and thirty four facilities totaling over 48 gigawatts of capacity. AES's electricity distribution network has over 920,000 km of conductor and associated rights of way and sells over 126,000 gigawatt hours per year to over 17 million end-use customers.

In addition, through its various retail electricity supply businesses, the company sells electricity to over 154,000 end-use customers.

AES is dedicated to providing electricity worldwide in a socially responsible way.

For more general information visit our web site at www.aesc.com or contact investor relations at [e-mail]. The list aes-pr-announce is an automated mailing list and can be found on the investing page of our web site. Those who subscribe to this list will receive updates when AES issues a press release.