GE energy awarded contract to upgrade EMS/SCADA system for Michigan utility

GE Energy has been awarded a contract by Wolverine Power Cooperative of Cadillac, Mich.for an XA/21™ energy management system upgrade. GE Energy's XA/21 system provides energy management (EMS) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) capabilities combined with an open systems architecture featuring Web-based full graphics, advanced power system applications, historical information storage and retrieval and relational database technology.

"In today's competitive environment, electric utilities demand a reliable and adaptable information technology infrastructure," said Ricardo Artigas, president, energy services for GE Energy. "GE Energy's XA/21 system is one of the most sophisticated and reliable EMS/SCADA systems on the market." Wolverine Power Cooperative has entered into a multi-year contractual services agreement with GE Energy, wherein they will benefit from multiple system upgrades as well as broad proactive support over an extended period.

The initial upgrade will assist Wolverine Power Cooperative in meeting the upcoming requirements outlined by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).In June 2003, NERC approved a set of cyber security standards as part of Urgent Action Request 1200.Corporate officers for all electric utilities in North America had to sign off on their partial standards adherence by March 2004, with complete adherence by January 1, 2005.

Wolverine Power Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned generation and transmission electric cooperative based in Cadillac, Mich. Wolverine supplies wholesale electric power to five member cooperatives in Michigan: Cherryland Electric Cooperative in Grawn, Great Lakes Energy in Boyne City, HomeWorks Tri-County Electric Cooperative in Portland, Presque Isle Electric & Gas Co-op in Onaway, and Wolverine Power Marketing Cooperative in Cadillac. Wolverine Power Cooperative owns and operates five electric generating facilities capable of producing 200 megawatts of internal generation, and maintains 130 distribution substations and 36 transmission substations.

About GE Energy
GE Energy (http://www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technology, with 2003 revenues of nearly $18.5 billion.Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy provides equipment, service and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, transmission and distribution, distributed power and energy rental industries.

For more information, please contact Dennis Murphy, GE Energy, (678) 844 6948, dennis.murphy@ps.ge.com