BPL Global Contributes Key Components to Participating Load Project for Southern California Edison

Managing demand side loads as electric power reserves is a key element for smart grid technology.

PITTSBURGH – May 26, 2009 – BPL Global^®, Ltd. (BPLG), a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability, will contribute to a Participating Load project for Southern California Edison (SCE). SCE will utilize BPLG’s Power SG^® Demand Management solution to monitor and assess the feasibility of using the Demand Response of aggregated residential air conditioning load to serve as electric power reserves bid into the wholesale electricity market. This aggregated Demand Response, with voluntary short duration curtailment for each air conditioner, could potentially avoid triggering additional generation to balance electricity supply and demand.

“Effectively managing peak electrical demand instead of increasing supply is a key strategy for managing the grid as we apply new Smart Grid technology,” said, California ISO Demand Response Lead John Goodin. “Managing demand through advanced technologies is a greener and potentially more affordable way to provide reliable electric service.”

“This project demonstrates significant market leadership by SCE and innovation by BPLG,” said Keith Schaefer, BPLG’s CEO. “This effort produces a precise, predictable, and verifiable asset that SCE can use to quickly increase their operating margin through low cost and environmentally friendly load management methods instead of building new generation capacity."

SCE operates one of the largest demand response programs involving residential and commercial air conditioning in the world. SCE has enrolled 330,000 customers in this optional program that allows the company to cycle air conditioner compressors in case of grid emergencies. With this project, SCE is exploring whether electricity used for residential air conditioning can be managed to provide electric power reserves by enabling localized reduction in load within minutes with minimal customer impact.

“We are excited about the possible benefits to our customers and the environment that this project represents,’ said Larry Oliva, Director of SCE Tariff Programs & Services. “Using new technology to refine our partnership with residential customers participating in the voluntary air conditioning cycling program is a key attribute to advancing our leadership in demand response programs.”

BPLG’s Power SG^® Demand Management software solution is a key component which will provide the real-time verification necessary to assess SCE’s ability to manage residential load as electric power reserves. It monitors the actual load of selected residential air conditioners in near real-time. Centralized system control enables monitoring each load according to its attributes for utilization as electric power reserves. Power SG^® monitors and validates actual ramp-up, shed and ramp-down of each individual load. This information can be reported for a single air conditioner or in aggregate. With Power SG^®, utilities gain predictability and dependability for managed loads as reserve assets.

About BPL Global
BPL Global, Ltd. (BPLG) is a smart grid technology company dedicated to leading the transformation of energy efficiency and reliability. The company provides software solutions and services to electric utilities enabling an intelligent grid to more efficiently manage demand, integrate distributed energy resources, improve service reliability, and optimize cost and capital productivity. BPL Global partners with local utilities, Internet service providers, equipment suppliers and financiers to create end-to-end solutions integrating the best in software, communications, hardware and managed services to aggressively deploy smart grid solutions around the world. Part of the clean technology sector of the electric utility industry, our applications provide the critical foundation for a coordinated, intelligent grid to deliver energy more efficiently and reliably for a greener environment.

About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California. http://www.sce.com/

About California ISO
The California ISO is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation charged with managing the flow of electricity along California’s open-market wholesale power grid. The mission of the California ISO is to safeguard the reliable delivery of electricity, and ensure equal access to 25,000 circuit miles of “electron highway.” As the impartial operator of the wholesale power grid in the state, the California ISO conducts a small portion of the bulk power markets. These markets are used to allocate space on the transmission lines, maintain operating reserves and match supply with demand in real time. www.caiso.com