Allegheny Energy Supply teams up with the Township of Collier to offer savings on electricity.

GREENSBURG, Penn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 1999--

Allegheny Energy Supply, the lowest-priced electric generation supplier in the Pittsburgh area, has teamed up with the Township of Collier in Allegheny County, Pa., to offer residents and businesses additional savings on their electric bills through the Electric Choice Community Program.

Depending on how many of Collier's 2,300 households sign up for the program, average residential customers could save as much as 6.65 percent on their monthly electric bills with the Electric Choice Community Program, an incentive-based aggregation plan. Businesses will also receive comparable savings with the program.

"Allegheny Energy Supply already offers the greatest savings for customers of Duquesne Light," said Gary Williard, Municipal Manager for the Township of Collier. "But by joining together as a group, we were able to increase our purchasing power and negotiate an even lower rate for our residents. The bottom line is simple: The more Collier residents that sign up, the cheaper their price for electricity from Allegheny Energy Supply."

In the Township of Collier's Electric Choice Community Program, if more than 460 residents sign up, average residential customers will save about 6.2 percent on their electric bills. If more than 1,150 sign up, the savings increase to about 6.65 percent.

Collier residents will receive a letter from the Township explaining the program beginning the week of June 14. To participate, they must return the postage-paid reply card they receive in that mailing no later than July 6. Allegheny Energy Supply will then calculate the additional rate reduction based on the number of participants.

"When Allegheny Energy Supply presented its Electric Choice Community Program to us, we were impressed with the benefits it had for Collier residents and businesses," said Williard. "The program offers a reliable supply of electricity from a credible company at a low price. The Township is pleased to be able to help our residents get the best possible deal on their purchase of electricity."

Michael Dandrea, Director, Retail Mass Markets for Allegheny Energy Supply, applauded the Township of Collier officials for helping to make the decision less confusing when selecting an electric generation supplier.

"Collier officials are to be commended for recognizing the tremendous benefits that the Electric Choice Community Program brings to the residential and small business customer," said Dandrea. "They have taken much of the confusion out of the Electric Choice selection process for their residents and added credibility to this important purchase. We are happy to be working with the Township of Collier on this program," he said. "We invite opportunities to offer similar programs to other townships and municipalities in Pennsylvania."

Dandrea noted that Collier residents who sign up with Allegheny Energy Supply will also have the opportunity to take advantage of the Company's Energizing Education(TM) program, a unique business/education partnership that provides free educational tools to Pennsylvania schools in certain areas of the state.

"To date, 64 percent of the eligible schools in western Pennsylvania are enrolled in the Energizing Education program," said Dandrea. "The program works very simply: When Duquesne Light or Penn Power customers sign up with us, they immediately begin generating Power Points based on their electricity use. The Power Points can then be assigned to any school the customer chooses, and the school can then redeem them for free state-of-the-art educational equipment, like computers, TVs, VCRs, and more."

Collier residents who have already selected Allegheny Energy Supply as their electric generation supplier will be eligible for the additional savings provided by the Electric Choice Community Program. Also, customers who have selected another electric generation supplier may now switch to Allegheny Energy Supply to take advantage of the savings.

Collier Township is the second township in the Pittsburgh area to participate in Allegheny Energy Supply's incentive-based aggregation program. Hampton Township was the first to initiate the program in March and saved its residents 6.2 percent on their monthly electric bill.

For more information about the Township of Collier Electric Choice Community Program, call the Township offices at [phone] or contact Allegheny Energy Supply at 1-888-AE Choice (1-888-232-4642).

Allegheny Energy Supply, an energy supply business, markets competitive electric generation to retail and wholesale customers throughout the region. Headquartered in Greensburg, Pa., it is a division of a Pennsylvania subsidiary of Allegheny Energy, Inc. For more information about Allegheny Energy Supply, visit our web site at www.alleghenyenergy.com.