Hampton, NH – May 15, 2000: Unitil Corporation (AMEX: UTL) (www.unitil.com) today announced that its new Usourceonline.com automated enrollment platform for Internet based energy supply acquisition for medium sized business customers will be launched in Philadelphia under the name www.phillyenergy.com in early June. Usource (www.usourceonline.com) has been approved as an Electric Generation Supplier (aggregator/broker) and as a Natural Gas Supplier (aggregator/broker) in Pennsylvania by the Public Utilities Commission.
The electricity market in Pennsylvania was one of the first to open for competition, in June of 1998, and Philadelphia is one of the most active market areas in the state. The high level of understanding about competitive energy markets among commercial and industrial customers within the state was an important factor in selecting Philadelphia for launching the new Usourceonline.com platform. PhillyEnergy.com will offer medium-sized business customers access to the same established and proven energy acquisition process Usource presently offers to large business customers in New York and New England.
"Philly is a great place to do business – it’s the cradle of liberty and the cradle of competitive energy markets in the nation today, and we’re excited about the benefits Usource has to offer to Philly businesses," said Bob Schoenberger, Unitil’s CEO. "Energy supply competition offers a big bonus for business customers, but it requires an entirely new energy procurement process, especially in today’s volatile energy environment. PhillyEnergy.com will enable Philadelphia business customers to control their own energy procurement decision and access a broad market of pre-qualified competitive suppliers without hiring consultants or undertaking expensive, time-consuming RFPs."
Launched in mid-1999, Usource currently provides Internet-based energy procurement services to large commercial, industrial and institutional customers throughout New York and New England. Customers include MI Energy, L.L.C., a consortium of many of the largest industrial firms in New York State, the New York City Housing Authority, and large industrial firms in competitive markets throughout the region.
Usourceonline.com incorporates groundbreaking new information technology applications developed specifically for the mid-sized B2B market by BusinessEdge Solutions, Inc. BusinessEdge (www.businessedge.com) is a next generation eBusiness Integration firm specializing in eBusiness enablement and strategic Information Technology (IT) services for the Energy, Communications, Insurance and Financial Services Industry. Headquartered in Edison, NJ, BusinessEdge is the sponsor of www.industryedge.com, a virtual community for the Energy, Communications, Insurance and Financial Services industries, and www.velOSSity.com, an eBusiness integration center.
Usourceonline.com runs on the sophisticated transaction-based software and energy commodity Exchange developed and licensed by Enermetrix.com (www.enermetrix.com), a privately held company headquartered in Maynard, MA.
Unitil is a public utility holding company with subsidiaries providing electric service in New Hampshire and electric and gas service in Massachusetts and energy services throughout the Northeast. The Usource product line, operated by its subsidiary Unitil Resources, Inc., is available at www.usourceonline.com. Unitil’s other subsidiaries include Concord Electric Company, Exeter & Hampton Electric Company, Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, Unitil Power Corp., Unitil Realty Corp. and Unitil Service Corp.
For more information, visit Unitil at www.unitil.com or call Raymond J. Morrissey at 603-773-6503
Contact
Raymond J. Morrissey
morrissey@unitil.com
Corporate Office
Liberty Lane West
Hampton, NH 03842-1720
800/999-6501
