BH Management Services Inc. Comes Online with Energy Information Services+ from National Water & Power.

Business Editors

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2003

Energy Data Analysis and Management Services to Help Leading

Multi-Family Property Owners Reduce Energy Usage and Expenses

In an effort to manage energy expenses more efficiently across its 25,000 units, BH Management is now utilizing National Water & Power's new energy management service, Energy Information Services+ (EIS+). National Water & Power is the nation's fastest-growing utility billing and resident care services provider.

Introduced in July of 2002, EIS+ provides multi-family real estate property owners with one source for streamlined management of energy usage reporting, utility bill payment, bill auditing and resident billing.

With water allocation and billing services from National Water & Power already in place on many of its properties, BH Management will now have access to NW&P's expertise in both water and energy utility billing and resident care services.

"We've been impressed with the results of the water allocation and billing program NW&P has set up across our 76 Texas properties," said Howard Berends, CPM, asset manager of BH Management. "The implementation of the EIS+ system across our properties in nine states allows us to tap NW&P's industry expertise and superior technology platform to help manage our energy utilities as efficiently as we have our water utilities."

Traditionally, the energy billing and procurement process has been a cumbersome and time-consuming task for property managers who were forced to navigate the multiple sites, vendors and departments involved in utility management. For property owners with multi-state portfolios, such as BH Management, the process is further compounded by differing state and county regulations.

EIS+ provides property owners with outsourced access to accurate, consolidated, comparative utility usage information and bill payment services. The services are designed to optimize the entire energy management process by enhancing the energy-related decisions being made by property managers. EIS+ converts data into actionable knowledge by providing comparative usage and trend analysis reporting, resulting in improved vendor payment accuracy and highlighting opportunities for on-site energy conservation. EIS+ is delivered through an exclusive partnership with CASS Information Systems, a financial institution with more than 45 years' experience in payment and information systems.

"We linked our extensive utility billing and customer care expertise with CASS' extensive information management and payment experience to create the industry's most comprehensive resource for optimal utility cost management," said Robert Sherman, vice chairman of NWP Services Corp., parent company of National Water & Power. "With EIS+ and our other utility billing and resident care services, NW&P offers multi-family property owners one of the most complete utility management packages in the industry."

EIS+ encompasses the following services:

-- Outsource bill payment- Includes professional management of payables at half the normal processing costs. Major benefits include on-time payments, avoidance of late charges and duplicate payment of bills, and pursuit of missing bills.

-- Energy reporting- Internet access to comparative and trend data revealing property consumption patterns and analysis of regional rates and tariffs to improve budgeting and forecasting.

-- Rate and tariff auditing- Assures that utility charges are both accurate and best-rate priced.

-- Vacant unit management- Recovers utility costs inappropriately billed to the property owner rather than the resident and provides oversight of wasted utility costs in vacant apartments.

-- Procurement- Helps property owners find energy savings by securing alternate sources for electricity and natural gas in deregulated markets, co-generation opportunities and major equipment replacement as part of site survey programs.

The EIS+ package that was incorporated on BH Management's properties includes bill processing, bill payment, rate and tariff analysis, Web presentment and vacant unit recovery.

About National Water & Power

National Water & Power, a division of NWP Services Corp. headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., provides a broad range of utility billing, collections and resident care solutions to the multifamily real estate industry. As the largest and fastest-growing billing services provider in the country, National Water & Power's billing and submetering operations service properties in 39 states for some of the country's largest real estate investment trusts (REITs), fee managers, real estate partnerships, and individual property owners. Additional information is available at www.nwpco.com.

About BH Management Services Inc.

BH Management Services, Inc. is based in Dallas and manages more than 25,000 units in nine states. The BH Management Services philosophy is simple: provide the highest-quality living environment and resident services in order to retain satisfied customers. This philosophy is accomplished through professionalism, organization, and quality resident services. We hire only the most qualified professionals. We strive to develop solid partnerships, make communication a priority and pay close attention to the details. This is all done with one goal in mind -- to achieve the optimum return on our client's investment.