Benton PUD Goes Live With SPL Customer Management Solution.

Business & Energy Editors/High-Tech Writers

MORRISTOWN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

SPL WorldGroup B.V. (SPL), the leading provider of customer management solutions to the global energy industry, today announced that the Benton Public Utility District has successfully implemented SPL's market leading customer management product for the municipal market. Benton PUD provides approximately 40,000 customers in the State of Washington with electric power and other services.

Anticipating the potential for de-regulation in the state, which was originally planned for October 1999 and has now been deferred indefinitely, the utility decided their internal systems needed replacement. The PUD's commitment to customer service warranted a customer management system that was flexible, scalable and was designed with the energy customer in mind. After reviewing a number of potential solutions, they selected SPL's customer management software that is marketed to the municipal energy industry by PeopleSoft Inc.

"We looked at quite a few systems during the selection process, but we found SPL's customer management software to be the most robust and well-designed of all the products we viewed," said Mr. Jack Swanson, manager of Information Systems, Benton PUD and project manager for the implementation. "We really liked the system's flexible technical architecture and sophisticated database structure. In fact, the SPL software provides us options to enhance customer service levels and gives us a customer management solution that assures our ability to respond quickly to any future regulatory or business changes."

"Having Benton PUD go live with SPL's customer management solution was very important to us, especially since it was part of a larger systems implementation project," said CD Hobbs, president and chief executive officer, SPL WorldGroup. "SPL's 100% implementation success record is maintained in part by employing excellent implementation and technical staff but is also a result of the exceptional initial quality and flexibility of SPL's software."

About SPL WorldGroup

Established in 1994, SPL WorldGroup is a leading provider of best-of-breed customer management solutions to the energy and service related industries in regulated and competitive markets worldwide. With a 100% record of successful implementations, SPL continues to demonstrate its place as the market leader in providing flexible and scalable customer management solutions that evolve with client requirements and enable unrivaled business responsiveness. SPL employs over 600 professionals in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and has delivered its customer management products to more than 50 energy customers worldwide.

Visit SPL WorldGroup at www.splwg.com or call 973/539-6268 (New Jersey), 415/541-9462 (San Francisco), or within the US and Canada, 800/275-4775

About PeopleSoft CIS for Public Enterprise

Developed and built by SPL WorldGroup using the PeopleSoft tool set, the PeopleSoft CIS for Public Enterprise solution is marketed to municipals across North America by PeopleSoft Inc. The package is designed, developed, implemented and supported by SPL WorldGroup.

About Benton Public Utility District

Benton PUD is a leading electric power and related services provider serving approximately 40,000 in Washington State. They contribute value to their community and customers by providing energy and related services using reliable and efficient delivery systems. Visit Benton PUD at www.bentonpud.org or call 509/582-1209 for further information.

(c)2001 SPL WorldGroup Inc. All Rights Reserved. SPL WorldGroup, SPL and CorDaptix are trademarks owned by SPL WorldGroup B.V. or its subsidiaries. SPL WorldGroup and SPL are registered as trademarks in the United States and in certain foreign jurisdictions. All other brand, product and company names herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners.