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NCPA AND ENRON FORM MAJOR STRATEGIC ENERGY ALLIANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 15, 1997
SACRAMENTO -- The 700,000-customer Northern California Power Agency (NCPA) and Enron Capital & Trade Resources, a subsidiary of Enron Corp., today announced the formation of a strategic alliance designed to offer improved energy services to customers while positioning NCPA to successfully compete in a deregulated business environment. NCPA is a nonprofit California public agency established in 1968 to acquire, purchase, generate, transmit, distribute and sell electrical capacity and energy to, and on behalf of, its 15 members.
The NCPA/Enron agreement is the first of its kind in California and is a response to AB 1890, a new law passed last year deregulating the electric power industry in California.
The partnership will allow Enron to work jointly with NCPA to more effectively manage power supply and energy sales, and extend utility services to new customers. It will also allow NCPA and Enron to explore opportunities for increased operating efficiencies. When final agreements are approved, Enron will provide a comprehensive package of services to NCPA, including the sale of natural gas, and financial and risk management products.
NCPAís customers will benefit directly through lower energy bills and access to new options from Enron such as levelized energy billing, single source billing for electricity and natural gas, and other utility services. NCPA will use its existing renewable resource base and delivery system to serve member utilities and their customers.
ìWe believe that Enronís wide array of innovative services and products will allow NCPA and its members to compete successfully in the new market,î said NCPA General Manager Michael W. McDonald. ìOur strategic alliance will provide many opportunities for NCPA member utilities to improve service and reduce costs to their customers.î
ìThe alliance between NCPA and Enron introduces a new era in energy management to the state of California,î said Jeffrey K. Skilling, President and COO of Enron. ìBy coupling Enronís existing capabilities with those of NCPA, together we will be positioned as a significant player in the stateís new competitive energy market.î
Californiaís electric rates are 50 percent higher than the national average. It is expected that deregulation will lead to lower rates for consumers and a more robust energy market that will help speed the stateís economic recovery and make it more competitive in attracting new businesses. In adopting AB 1980, the State Legislature stated, ì...It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that Californiaís transition to a more competitive electricity market structure allows its citizens and businesses to achieve the economic benefits of industry restructuring at the earliest possible date, creates reliable electric service, provides assurances that electricity customers in the new market will have sufficient information and protection, and preserves Californiaís commitment to developing diverse, environmentally sensitive electricity resources.î
NCPA serves nearly 700,000 electric consumers in central and northern California. Its members include Alameda, Biggs, Gridley, Healdsburg, Lodi, Lompoc, Palo Alto, Redding, Roseville, Santa Clara, Ukiah, the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative, the Port of Oakland, the Truckee-Donner Public Utility District, and the Turlock Irrigation District. NCPA operates a 24-hour dispatch facility at its headquarters in Roseville, California, as well as geothermal, hydroelectric, combined-cycle and combustion turbine power facilities throughout central and northern California.
Enron, one of the worldís largest integrated natural gas and electricity companies with approximately $15 billion in assets, operates one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the world; is the largest purchaser and marketer of natural gas and the largest non-regulated marketer of electricity in North America, markets natural gas liquids worldwide; manages the largest portfolio of fixed-price natural gas risk management contracts in the world; is among the leading entities arranging new capital to the energy industry; owns a majority interest in Enron Oil & Gas Company, one of the largest independent (non-integrated) exploration and production companies in the United States; owns a majority interest in Enron Global Power & Pipelines L.L.C., which is owner and manager of operating power plants and natural gas pipelines around the world; and is one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the world. Enron is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE."
For additional information please contact:
Mark Palmer, Enron
713/853-4738
Michael McDonald, NCPA
916/781-3636
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