Comverge Wins 75 Megawatt Virtual Peaking Capacity Contract With Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative
Award Approved by Maryland Public Service Commission, Brings Total Contracted Revenues to $357 Million and Total Megawatts to 1,880
EAST HANOVER, N.J., April 21, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Comverge, Inc. (Nasdaq: COMV), a leading clean capacity provider through demand response and energy efficiency, announced today that it has entered into a Virtual Peaking Capacity(R) (VPC) contract with Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) to provide up to 75 megawatts of clean electricity capacity. The Maryland Public Service Commission accepted SMECO's demand response program supported by the contract on April 15, 2008 with an effective date of April 23, 2008. With a demand response program in place, SMECO will be able to use the program to reduce its peak capacity needs and better control the energy costs that it charges to its retail customers.
The VPC system, which will be designed for SMECO and owned and operated by Comverge, will require approximately three years to fully build out and will provide electricity capacity to SMECO for a minimum period of 10 years. Comverge will provide capacity through all three customer classes -- residential, small commercial and large commercial and industrial. Customers who participate in the program will have an opportunity to better control electricity costs and will receive incentive payments. SMECO receives the right to convert the direct load control program to one of price responsive customer control as it makes future decisions about advanced metering deployment.
"Comverge's demand response and energy efficiency programs are recognized as key components of any clean energy efficiency plan," said Robert M. Chiste, Comverge Chairman, President and CEO. "With a comprehensive portfolio approach -- including pay-for-performance agreements utilizing both Demand Response and Energy Efficiency-the SMECO contract allows us to serve all customer classes and provide Southern Maryland with reliable capacity at a reasonable price."
The SMECO program is yet another in a series of Comverge's fully- outsourced contracted VPC programs to address peak load and the first contract with an electric utility cooperative. Combined with Comverge's February announcement of the Con Edison energy efficiency base load contract and another contract expansion award, the company has already added 162 megawatts in new pay-for-performance contracts thus far in 2008.
"We are extremely pleased with the value we continue to build for our shareholders and our rapid drive to continue growth in the industry," said Chiste. "We currently have 2010 megawatts owned and managed and $431 million in long term contracted revenues, of which 130 megawatts and its associated revenues are awaiting final regulatory approval."
"We will have more control over the cost of meeting our utility obligations with a more diverse resource mix," said Tom Dennison, SMECO's Public and Media Relations Manager. "This also allows us to rely less on conventional supply-side resources with costs widely fluctuating from high fuel prices."
About Comverge
Comverge is a leading provider of clean energy solutions that improve grid reliability and supply electric capacity on a more cost effective basis than conventional alternatives by reducing base load and peak load energy consumption. For more information, visit www.comverge.com. Virtual Peaking Capacity is a registered trademark of Comverge Inc.
About SMECO
SMECO, a customer-owned electric cooperative serving four southern Maryland counties since 1937, provides electric power to more than 142,000 residential and commercial customers. For additional information, visit www.smeco.com.
For Comverge Investors: This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance, including projected revenues, megawatts, or energy reductions by utility customers that the company may recognize over the life of the contract described above. Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks associated with the company's business involving the company's products, their development and distribution, economic and competitive factors and the company's key strategic relationships, and other risks more fully described in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and other of the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Comverge assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein.
For additional information
Christina Kelly
Communications Marketing Manager
Comverge Inc
509-435-6341
ckelly@comverge.com
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