Dow Jones Telerate powers up electricity trading on the Internet.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 1996--At 8 a.m., a phone rings in the energy-control center for a western state utility. A major cold front will be moving through the state in the next 24 hours, and likely will generate record electricity demands beyond the utility's current capacity. Can the energy scheduler find a way to short-circuit a potential brown-out?

Turning to his computer, he electronically dials into the Dow Jones PowerHub Bulletin Board on the Internet and posts an offer to buy 100 megawatts. Two states away, another utility with excess capacity sees the offer and agrees to sell the power. In minutes, the capacity crisis is over.

This type of speedy megawatt dealing is now possible through the new online bulletin board launched by Dow Jones Telerate, in conjunction with the Western Systems Power Pool (WSPP). The Dow Jones PowerHub Bulletin Board, open to all 147 members of the largest North American power pool, is the first electricity trading site on the Internet.

The board is an adjunct of the Dow Jones PowerHub real-time electricity trading system. PowerHub was launched earlier this year by Dow Jones Telerate, and is the only real-time electricity trading system being offered by a global financial information provider. Dow Jones Telerate also is known for its benchmark Dow Jones COB, Palo Verde and Mid-Columbia electricity price indexes, created in collaboration with major power producers.

The Dow Jones PowerHub Bulletin Board, is operated by Dow Jones Telerate for the exclusive use of WSPP, including major utilities and electricity trading firms like Bonneville Power Administration, UtiliCorp Energy Group and Enron Power Marketing, Inc. WSPP members can post offers to sell or buy electricity on the board and see offerings posted by other members. Security provisions allow only WSPP members to access the site.

"The ability to post and view offerings on an Internet site like this will result in greater price transparency," said Bobby Campo, chairman of the Western Systems Power Pool Operating Committee. "This should further facilitate trading and efficiencies among our members, who are already accustomed to trading with market-based rates. The dynamic nature of the new WSPP posting system is a vast improvement over our previous system, which only allowed postings twice per day. Furthermore, this new system will be supported by Dow Jones Telerate on an around-the-clock basis."

WSPP members now have two ways to complete electricity transactions. They can scan the bulletin board for offerings and complete a transaction by phone. Or, they can use the PowerHub trading system to buy and sell electricity and transmission capacity electronically over the secure Dow Jones Telerate network.

Developed in close cooperation with electric utilities and power-trading firms, the Dow Jones PowerHub is a sophisticated trading system that supports online, multiparty negotiations. It can be used to buy or sell electricity and transmission capacity for delivery in the next hour -- or weeks, months and years into the future. The system can transmit information about completed transactions to other departments such as energy-control and accounting. Dow Jones Telerate executives said they plan to expand Dow Jones PowerHub in the future and offer the interactive electricity trading service in other parts of the world.

"Electronically aided electricity trading will significantly enhance a utility's ability to competitively meet power demands by giving them an instant snapshot of available capacity and prices throughout a region," said Viren Patel, global marketing director of energy services for Dow Jones Telerate. "Eventually, this capability will be available to power companies around the world."

One of Dow Jones & Company's largest business units, Dow Jones Telerate is a leading global provider of news and market information, decision-support products, trading room systems and transaction services for financial institutions. Dow Jones also publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and other business periodicals, business and financial newswires and community newspapers, and produces business television programming. Dow Jones Business Information Services, the electronic publishing arm, provides business and financial news and information products, including The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition on the World Wide Web, and Dow Jones News/Retrieval.

Telerate is a registered trademark and Dow Jones PowerHub is a trademark of Dow Jones Telerate, Inc.

CONTACT: Brian Ek

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