Distributed Power Coalition of America Showcases Existing Environmentally-Friendly Solutions to Energy Crisis.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2001

Members of Congress Join With Coalition On Capitol Hill to Promote

Distributed Power to Address Inadequate Generation, Stressed T&D

Systems, Rolling Blackouts and Rate Increases

In response to the nation's growing power crisis, the Distributed Power Coalition of America (DPCA) met Wednesday with Members of Congress and key staff to discuss the immediate and significant contributions that distributed power--including microturbine generators, fuel cells, solar energy, wind turbines, reciprocating engines and storage technology--can make in solving energy problems.

Distributed power provides energy closer to the customer than that provided by remote power plants, thus offering a feasible local solution.

The DPCA, in conjunction with U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, (R-NM) and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, (R-Calif.) sponsored Congressional Distributed Power Day to demonstrate how distributed power products and systems create clean, reliable and affordable energy for a wide variety of commercial, industrial, and government consumers.

The event included a display of various distributed power technology products and systems, most of which are already working or ready to be installed at businesses across the country.

"I believe distributed energy represents both the ultimate form of customer choice, and one of the best methods for reducing demand on our already overloaded power systems," said Wilson. "By making distributed power more accessible we will help lower energy bills for consumers and ensure that we have the power to continue to fuel the 'new economy.' Wider use of distributed energy technology would improve power quality and reliability, while also bringing more efficient and environmentally responsible energy resources into the mainstream."

Distributed power includes an array of environmentally sensitive, high efficiency on-site power generation, power control, energy storage and energy delivery products and systems that can be used to lower electricity costs, improve power quality and reliability, and lessen the impact of power production on the environment.

"Energy self-sufficiency is an integral part of the solution to the current energy crisis and should be a guiding principle of our national energy policy," Issa said. "Distributed power technology gives individuals and institutions the ability to meet their own energy needs."

Energy consumers in the West and Northeast, particularly in California and New York, are facing a critical shortage of electricity, and the problem could spread throughout the nation.

High demand, tight supplies and constraints in transmission and distribution systems are leading to an increase in power outages, reduced power reliability, and high costs, causing a negative impact on the economy.

"Distributed power can be located close to the customer, easing congestion in electrical grids and reducing the chance for outages, while taking advantage of new environmentally-sound technologies to add to the nation's energy supply," said Daniel Dessanti, DPCA Chairman and Manager of Retail Markets for KeySpan Energy in New York. "It is in the public interest to deploy distributed energy resources as expeditiously as possible."

To reduce the need for expensive peak power, increase consumers' energy self-sufficiency, improve system reliability and encourage new generation, the DPCA supports enactment of federal and state energy legislation to:

(a) Enable the prompt installation of clean distributed power to

increase the supply of electricity for 2001 and beyond.

(b) Revise tariff structures to encourage the installation of

affordable, clean, safe and reliable distributed energy

resources without artificial financial penalties.

(c) Streamline the interconnect process and waives unreasonable

interconnection fees and charges.

(d) Waive standby charges, stranded asset charges, exit fees, and

similar charges for the distributed generation systems that

are deployed to help stabilize a volatile energy market.

(e) Stimulate the development of combined heat and power

applications (CHP) through recognition of the value of energy

losses avoided (transmission, distribution, and

transformation) and the energy and environmental efficiencies

of CHP.

About The DPCA:

The DPCA, formed in 1997, is the only national industry organization to promote the deployment of distributed power. DPCA has called upon Congress and state legislatures to pass legislation that would facilitate the rapid deployment of distributed power as a key component of the solution to the nation's energy crisis.

For additional information on the DPCA, visit DPCA's Web site at www.dpc.org.