Association of California Water Agencies Gives First Telecom Endorsement to NewEnergy's Telecom Program.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2000

ACWA-USA, a joint powers authority created in 1996 by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) to pool water agency demands for the purchase of utility services, has given its first-ever telecom endorsement to NewEnergy's telecom program.

NewEnergy, a leading energy service provider, offers telecom services though an agreement with Cable & Wireless (NYSE:CWP), a leading global telecommunications company. By aggregating its customer base of electricity users, NewEnergy is able to provide telecom savings through a Cable & Wireless offering that companies may not be able to obtain on their own.

"This agreement marks the first time that California's water agencies have worked with a provider to make a cost-saving cooperative telecommunications program available to water agencies statewide," said Andrew Singer, vice president of NewEnergy. "We are pleased that NewEnergy's telecom program, which has what we believe is the best pricing on the market, has won the endorsement of ACWA-USA."

The endorsement comes upon the completion of a three-month pilot program with ACWA member Sonoma County Water Agency. Even though the pilot was only supposed to serve part of Sonoma's needs, the water agency converted all its long distance and in-state traffic to the telecom service offering by the end of the pilot.

ACWA-USA lauded the agreement. "The Sonoma County Water Agency reported to us a savings of nearly 50 percent during the pilot period, and that makes us very enthusiastic about offering this program to our members," ACWA-USA Spokesman Dan Smith said. "Telecommunications costs have become a major budgeting factor for many water agencies, and we believe the agreement with NewEnergy will result in significant savings for our participating members."

Details of the agreement, and opportunities for agencies to participate, will be available on the ACWA-USA portion of ACWA's Web site at www.acwanet.com. ACWA-USA is an umbrella group that allows members to form subgroups that act as wholesale buyers and possibly sellers of various utility services, which include natural gas, energy efficiency and electricity. All regular and affiliate members of ACWA are eligible to join. ACWA-USA has coordinated electricity agreements with NewEnergy for three years, a partnership that has saved members approximately $4 million in electricity purchases to date.

NewEnergy Inc. is America's largest energy service provider, with offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tucson and the San Francisco Bay area. NewEnergy strives to help its customers increase their profitability through integrated, high-value energy solutions. Its services include electricity products, information services, energy efficiency services, site generation, equipment and supplies, and a telecom service offering. A subsidiary of the AES Corporation (NYSE:AES), NewEnergy was formed in 1995 to serve customers nationwide in the emerging competitive retail electricity market. AES is a leading global power company comprised of competitive generation, distribution and retail supply businesses in 18 countries. AES is dedicated to providing electricity worldwide in a socially responsible way. More information on NewEnergy and its products and services is available at www.newenergy.com.