The Wind Turbine Company Expands Board, Adds Three Outside Directors.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1999--The Wind Turbine Company announced today that it has increased the size of its board of directors and has added three outside directors. The new directors are Dr. Larry L. Berg of Calabasas, California; Mr. Leon G. Billings of Washington, D.C.; and Mr. Tim Carlson of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Wind Turbine Company (WTC) is developing a family of new utility scale wind turbines intended to produce very low cost wind generated electricity. WTC has a $22 million cost sharing contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop prototype turbines and a $1 million contract with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to help fund this effort. The company will install its first turbine this September at DOE's National Wind Technology Center near Denver.

"WTC has made considerable progress in the past year and is poised for dramatic growth as we move from our first prototype wind turbine into production of commercial machines next year," said Larry Miles, WTC President. "To help assure our success," Miles added, "we wanted to expand our breadth of expertise. We have been extremely fortunate to find people the caliber of Larry Berg, Leon Billings and Tim Carlson to help us."

Larry L. Berg, an energy industry consultant and an internationally recognized expert on air quality, was appointed in 1983 by the Speaker of the California Assembly as his representative to the Executive Board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Los Angeles. During Berg's 10-year tenure, SCAQMD became the most powerful and widely recognized air quality agency in the world. From 1994-1997, Berg was a director of Ballard Power Systems, the highly successful hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer located in Vancouver, British Columbia. During Berg's directorship at Ballard the newly public company grew from a market valuation of $18 million to $420 million, entering into strategic alliances with Daimler/Chrysler, Ford, Alstrom and a number of others. Berg was a professor of political science at the University of Southern California for 25 years, founding the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the university in 1978.

Leon G. Billings is president of Leon G. Billings, Inc., a Washington, D.C., consulting firm specializing in environmental, energy, health and safety legislation. A well-known political and legislative strategist, Billings served the late Senator and Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie in a number of capacities in the 1960s and 1970s including Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff. As Staff Director of the Senate Environmental Pollution Subcommittee, Billings had primary staff responsibility for the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, the Noise Control Act, and the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act. He is one of Washington's most influential figures in the development of environmental law. Billings is president of the Edmund S. Muskie Foundation, a Congressionally-funded foundation formed to perpetuate the late senator's environmental legacy, and is also president of the Clean Air Trust. Billings has served as a member of the Maryland State Legislature since 1991.

Tim Carlson is president of NTS Development Corporation, a non-profit corporation established to promote the growth of science and technology in Nevada through the reuse of federal assets. Working with a 60-member board of directors consisting of Nevada's key decision-makers, Carlson has successfully secured over $9 million in grant funding for the organization. His efforts have resulted in the creation of SPACEPORT NEVADA to foster the advancement of the aerospace industry. He has also successfully attracted a number of alternative fuel-based businesses to the state. Carlson served Nevada's governor as a cabinet member from 1993 to 1996 as executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. He also served as president of the Nevada Development Authority.

"In the coming year," explained Larry Miles, "WTC will expand the scope of its activities and begin the development of one or two small power projects employing the company's turbines. WTC will need to raise external funding, establish strategic partnerships, and identify project opportunities. Larry, Leon and Tim are already proving their worth in these endeavors," Miles said.

The Wind Turbine Company was founded in 1989 to develop low cost, utility scale wind turbines. The company is owned by its founders, employees and directors, and has also received outside investments from investors including the Dow Chemical Company.