CORP ANNOUNCEMENT / Washington, D.C. Energy Think Tank Names PECO Energy 'Energy Company of the Year'
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington International Energy Group (WIEG) today recognized PECO Energy Company (NYSE: PE - news), of Philadelphia, as its Energy Company of the Year.
After a year in which PECO Energy reached a landmark restructuring settlement with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to open its electric market, agreed to the nation's first sale of a nuclear power plant, and outperformed each of the nation's top 50 utilities in shareholder return, WIEG president Roger Gale said PECO Energy has ''turned from a slow and defensive company to a strong promising winner'' and ''a key company to watch'' among U.S. energy companies.
Gale spoke at WIEG's eighth annual news briefing with energy writers at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
PECO Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Corbin A. McNeill, Jr. accepted the award, saying it is ''highly satisfying to everyone at PECO Energy to be recognized as a leader in an industry undergoing such dramatic change.''
McNeill said this past year was one of the most significant in PECO Energy's 118-year history, citing the move to competition in Pennsylvania. It also marked the company's ambitious goal to nearly triple its electric generating capacity and become one of the world's largest and cleanest power generating firms. Along with British Energy, PECO Energy expects to complete its acquisition of Three Mile Island Unit 1, near Harrisburg, Pa., this summer, which will be the first sale of a nuclear power plant in the U.S.
McNeill also noted that PECO Energy's Power Team, its wholesale power marketing unit, has become one of the most active in North America, and the company's retail marketing unit, Exelon Corp., became the largest competitive generation supplier in Pennsylvania.
McNeill said he is particularly proud that PECO Energy provided the top shareholder return among the nation's investor-owned electric utilities going from ''worst to first.'' The company's stock rose from a low of $18.50 to close at $41.75 during 1998.
''We want to hold on to our customers in the Philadelphia area, compete across the nation as more states deregulate electricity, expand our generation capability, and continue to be a leading power marketer,'' he said. ''We've developed a high performance work ethic among our employees. They realize what it takes to be successful.''
''We will not rest on our success during 1998. Instead we must build upon it and I am confident we will,'' McNeill said.
In his remarks, Gale praised PECO Energy for reaching the settlement with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on utility restructuring resulting from the state's new deregulation law. The pact later became a statewide model for opening up the retail electricity market in Pennsylvania to competitive power suppliers, allowing for customer choice. Pennsylvania now has the largest competitive electric market in the nation.
Gale also pointed at PECO Energy's TMI purchase as a positive example of the company's ''aggressive contrarian campaign to buy undervalued generation assets.''
WIEG is an energy think tank and consulting group, widely known for its industry analysis. Its first annual Energy Company of the Year was awarded last year to Pacific Gas & Electric of California. The group recognizes energy service companies that are rapidly changing their corporate culture, setting ambitious strategic goals, and positioning themselves to be successful.
PECO Energy is a local utility that delivers electricity to 1.5 million customers and natural gas to 405,000 customers in southeastern Pennsylvania, markets wholesale power in the United States and Canada, with more than 60 million megawatt hours of electricity delivered to clients during the past 12 months, and provides energy commodity, telecommunications, and energy- related infrastructure services through its unregulated affiliate, Exelon Corp.
|
