TXU and CURRENT Communications to Create Nation's First Multipurpose Smart Grid; Broadband Over Power Line Network to Be Available to Serve Approximately Two Million Texas Homes and Businesses.DALLAS & GERMANTOWN, Md. -- TXU TXU Texas Utilities (Electric and Gas Company) TXU Transmitter Unit Electric Delivery, the nation's sixth largest electric transmission and distribution company and a subsidiary of TXU Corp. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : TXU), and CURRENT Communications Group, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control , the nation's leading provider of broadband over power line (BPL See broadband over power lines. ) solutions, today announced an agreement to transform TXU Electric Delivery's power distribution network into the nation's first broadband-enabled Smart Grid Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . . CURRENT will design, build and operate the BPL network covering the majority of the TXU Electric Delivery service area, including approximately two million homes and businesses in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and other Texas communities. This modernized grid will dramatically enhance TXU Electric Delivery's ability to deliver top-decile electric service reliability and provide the potential for additional products and services from retail electric providers that will enable businesses and consumers to manage their electricity usage and costs. Overlaid on the existing electric distribution network, the CURRENT(TM) BPL network solution incorporates advanced digital communication and computing capabilities that, for the first time, provide real-time monitoring through the electric distribution network, enabling TXU Electric Delivery to: --Increase network reliability and power quality --Prevent, detect and restore customer outages more effectively and --Implement automated meter reading more efficiently. Additionally, CURRENT will leverage the same BPL network to provide homes and businesses high-performance broadband and wireless services, including the "triple play" of voice, video and high-speed Internet See broadband. access delivered over existing electrical lines by simply plugging into any home outlet. Under the terms of the agreement with CURRENT, TXU Electric Delivery will procure services over 10 years for approximately $150 million to utilize the Smart Grid capabilities of CURRENT's BPL network. The cost of the service agreement does not materially affect TXU Corp.'s previously disclosed financial outlook. When the agreements become effective, TXU Corp. will become an equity holder in CURRENT. Existing CURRENT shareholders include Cinergy Corporation (NYSE:CIN CIN cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) A term used to categorize degrees of dysplasia arising in the epithelium, or outer layer, of the cervix. ), EnerTech Capital, Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the world's largest global investment banks. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street. Group Inc., Google Inc., The Hearst Corporation The Hearst Corporation is a privately-held American-based media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower in New York City, USA. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media. , and Liberty Associated Partners, LP, of which Liberty Media Corporation (NYSE:L) is a significant limited partner. "CURRENT's BPL solution is a critical enabler of our mission to dramatically improve the way we deliver electricity," said Tom Baker, TXU Electric Delivery chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "BPL will enable us to respond more quickly and efficiently to outages of all magnitudes, manage our distribution network more proactively and further safeguard our dispersed critical assets in today's heightened security environment." "We are immensely pleased to be working with an industry leader such as TXU. This agreement is a milestone for CURRENT as well as for BPL and illustrates the economic advantages of driving multiple applications across a single large scale network deployment," said William H. Berkman, chairman and co-founder of CURRENT Communications Group and managing partner of Liberty Associated Partners. "Today's announcement is solid evidence of how BPL answers the federal government's recent call to create a more efficient and reliable 21st century electricity distribution network." TXU Electric Delivery and CURRENT expect to begin deploying the BPL network in 2006. Black River Capital LLC acted as an advisor to TXU Electric Delivery in this transaction. About TXU Corp. TXU Corp., a Dallas-based energy company, manages a portfolio of competitive and regulated energy businesses primarily in Texas. In the competitive TXU Energy Holdings segment (comprised of electricity generation, wholesale marketing and retailing), TXU Energy provides electricity and related services to more than 2.3 million competitive electricity customers in Texas, more customers than any other retail electric provider in the state. TXU Power has over 18,300 megawatts of generation in Texas, including 2,300 MW of nuclear and 5,837 MW of lignite/coal-fired generation capacity. The company is also one of the largest purchasers of wind-generated electricity in Texas and North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . TXU Wholesale optimizes the purchases and sales of energy for TXU Energy and TXU Power and provides related services to other market participants. TXU Corp.'s regulated segment, TXU Electric Delivery, is an electric distribution and transmission business that complements the competitive operations, using superior asset management skills to provide reliable electricity delivery to consumers. TXU Electric Delivery operates the largest distribution and transmission system in Texas, providing power to three million electric delivery points over more than 100,000 miles of distribution and 14,000 miles of transmission lines. Visit www.txucorp.com for more information about TXU Corp. About CURRENT Communications Group CURRENT Communications Group, LLC, a privately-held company based in Germantown, Md., is the leading provider of broadband over power line (BPL) solutions to electric distribution companies worldwide. The CURRENT BPL portfolio includes BPL network equipment, software solutions and Smart Grid Services comprised of electric utility applications enabling real-time management of the electric grid. CURRENT also is a fully integrated communications service provider A Communications Service Provider or CSP is a company that transports information electronically. The term encompasses public and private companies in the wireline, wireless, Internet, cable, satellite, and managed services businesses. , offering high performance broadband Internet See broadband. services to consumer and business users over existing electrical infrastructure. Further information about CURRENT is available at www.currentgroup.com. This release contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that TXU Electric Delivery will be able to obtain the benefits that it expects from the deployment of the BPL network. The forward-looking statements in this release could be affected by a number of factors, including: the ability of CURRENT to attract sufficient equity investors and obtain the financing in a timely manner; construction and operational issues relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc a large scale rollout of the BPL network that have not been anticipated; changes in technology that impact the viability of BPL technologies employed by CURRENT; changes in laws and regulations; the relative costs of services provided by alternate utility and retail broadband competitors, and additional costs that could be incurred by TXU Electric Delivery in the event that the BPL network is not deployed or does not operate in the manner currently anticipated. -END- CURRENT Broadband Over Power Line Backgrounder back·ground·er n. An informal news briefing for reporters by an official often speaking off the record. Noun 1. backgrounder "Smart Grid" Services CURRENT and TXU Electric Delivery will implement this "smart grid" providing real-time network monitoring The term network monitoring describes the use of a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing systems and that notifies the network administrator in case of outages via email, pager or other alarms. and security benefits over one network. CURRENT(TM) Smart Grid Services enable utilities to improve the operation and efficiency of their electric distribution systems with capabilities such as: --Automated outage out·age n. 1. A quantity or portion of something lacking after delivery or storage. 2. A temporary suspension of operation, especially of electric power. detection and restoration confirmation --Automated meter reading --Remote monitoring and operation of switches and transformers --Remote capability to connect and disconnect electric service --More efficient demand-side management programs --Voltage monitoring and management from the substation to the meter --Transformer overload detection and --Real preventive maintenance The routine checking of hardware that is performed by a field engineer on a regularly scheduled basis. See remedial maintenance. preventive maintenance - (PM) To bring down a machine for inspection or test purposes. See provocative maintenance, scratch monkey. programs based on real-time data Real-time data denotes information that is delivered immediately after collection. There is no delay in the timeliness of the information provided. Some uses of this term confuse it with the term dynamic data. which include predictive fault detection. CURRENT(TM) BPL technology is deployed on the existing electric distribution network, using existing wires. CURRENT simply installs its proprietary equipment at local transformers and network points, allowing communication signals to flow like power on the same medium- and low-voltage lines that feed into a user's home or business to electrical outlets. The entire network is managed from a centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. location. Broadband Communications CURRENT BPL technology enables the delivery of high-speed, two-way broadband through electrical outlets in homes and offices. It transforms existing electrical wiring Electrical wiring in general refers to insulated conductors used to carry electricity, and associated devices. This article describes general aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring. into a secure broadband network. CURRENT Broadband(R) service is channeled into homes through cell-phone charger-sized modems that plug into any electrical outlet. Transmission is symmetrical, so uploads are as fast as downloads, which is becoming increasingly important as consumers chose to share photos and video. Installation at the home or business does not generally require a technician's visit. For Internet users, CURRENT Broadband service See broadband and broadband service provider. offers: --"Always-on" high-speed Internet access from power outlets throughout the home or business, --Voice over Internet Protocol See Internet and TCP/IP. (networking) Internet Protocol - (IP) The network layer for the TCP/IP protocol suite widely used on Ethernet networks, defined in STD 5, RFC 791. IP is a connectionless, best-effort packet switching protocol. (VoIP) capability for lower-cost telephony services over the network, --Upload and download access at the same high speed, which allows users to more effectively use their multiple networked computers and share digital photos and home video files, use new video transfer services (such as those offered by TiVO and Slingback that allow for transfer of video from the user's home to their remote PC), and play on-line gaming applications, --Small office/home office service, with the ability to handle large file transfers and videoconferencing from any room in the home or office, --Local area networking from all power outlets in each premise over existing electrical wiring without any additional wiring or equipment, --Faster speeds at a lower monthly cost than other broadband services, --Multiple speeds and pricing plans to meet individual needs and budgets and --"Plug-and-play" installation with no router or installation CD for activation within minutes. |
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