Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Ballard Power -world leader zero-emission PEM fuel cells -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Fisherman1 who wrote (4525)	11/17/1999 1:07:00 PM
From: Hawkeye	Respond to of 5827

Wednesday November 17, 11:59 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Deloitte & Touche Most Consumers Still Uninformed About Electric Deregulation, But Enthusiastic About On-Site Generation WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The following press release was issued today by Deloitte & Touche: A large majority of Americans (62.1%) remain uninformed about changes in the electricity industry and (at 43% on each side of the question) they are evenly split as to whether the changes will result in electricity prices rising or falling. These were among the highlights of the 1999 Deloitte & Touche Consumer Awareness Survey of Electric Deregulation -- details of which were presented at a press conference today by Branko Terzic, Deloitte's director of public utility services. The poll is the latest in an annual series that began in 1996. Reflecting the state-by-state regulatory nature of the U.S. electric industry, Terzic explained, the poll found regional variations in awareness with more consumers in the Northeast aware of changes and less consumers in the West. Consumers are also growing more pessimistic about future service quality under deregulation, the poll found. Terzic attributed that trend to much-publicized outages last summer in the Midwest and Northeast. The poll unearthed good news for investor-owned utilities and bad news for ''convergence'' companies that offer additional service (such as cable, home security and long distance phone) along with electricity. Overwhelmingly, (79.7%) consumers said that under deregulation they would likely choose their existing electric company as a service provider as opposed to an Internet company or a major oil company. Only 27.4 percent expressed interest in the convergence companies. And a question not asked in previous polls revealed surprisingly good news for the fledgling distributed power industry. Assuming that a generator about half the size of a refrigerator could be bought for about $400 and would save about 20 percent on a consumer's electric bill, would the consumer buy one? A healthy 45.1 percent responded that they would be interested or very interested. ''If any significant portion of this 45.1 percent purchased on-site power unit, the entire structure of the electric power industry would be in for dramatic changes,'' commented Deloitte's Terzic. The survey of more than 600 consumers was conducted by International Consumer Research, Inc. of Media, Pennsylvania on November 5-9, 1999. Copies of the survey are available from Deloitte & Touche by contacting Sara Blitch by email at sblitch@dttus.com or by telephone at 703-251-4331. Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the nation's leading professional services firms, provides accounting and auditing, tax and management consulting services. Deloitte & Touche is the U.S. member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. SOURCE: Deloitte & Touche

To: Fisherman1 who wrote (4525)	11/17/1999 1:22:00 PM
From: Hawkeye	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5827

Repost of recent news. I just found the reason why 2 companies weren't named to be interesting. Any guesses? Who's left out there? BMW might well be embarrassed to be named as they have always dismissed fuel cells in favor of IC engines. Could the other be Toyota? I doubt it but it sure would be interesting. Most other auto companies have already been identified as having purchased Ballard fuel cells. Ballard has $4.5-million in fuel cell orders STEVE MERTL VANCOUVER (CP) - Ballard Power Systems said Friday it has received orders totalling $4.5 million for hydrogen fuel-cell stacks as development of fuel-cell cars accelerates. The orders to the suburban Burnaby company come through its a affiliate dbb fuel cell engines inc., which is responsible for developing and manufacturing fuel-cell systems to be used in vehicles. The company is jointly owned by Ballard and its major partners, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler. Ballard has supplied fuel sells to other automakers, including General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen. But chairman Firoz Rasul would not say whom the latest orders were destined for. "They've indicated that at this stage for competitive reasons they would rather not disclose to their competition that they're working on these things," he said. Rasul also would not reveal the number of fuel-cell stacks ordered because it could provide pricing information to competitors. The pace of fuel-cell vehicle development is picking up as manufacturers commit to introducing commercially viable production models within the next four to six years, said Rasul. A total of 10 automakers showed fuel-cell vehicles at the recent Frankfurt and Tokyo auto shows, seven of which used Ballard fuel-cell stacks, he said. "Certainly there was a clear demonstration how fast the industry is moving towards fuel cells," said Rasul. A key deadline is also looming in 2003, when California clean-air legislation mandates that 10 per cent of the state's vehicle fleet must have no polluting emissions. "People are now getting ready to build both prototype and field-trial vehicles so they can gain enough experience to be ready to put a car on the road in time for those regulations," said Rasul. Six manufacturers have stated they will have fuel-cell cars on the road between 2003 and 2005, he said. The fuel-cell stacks, the heart of the system that process the produces electricity from hydrogen and air without pollution, will be delivered in early 2000, said Rasul. The units will be manufactured on Ballard's pilot production line in its Burnaby complex. Ballard's adjacent main production facility will be running by the second half of next year, Rasul said. Ballard recently reported a third-quarter loss of $22.2 million, more than double last year's shortfall. The loss was due to increased spending on research and development, as well as higher general and administrative spending related to Ballard's growth, the company said. Ballard shares closed up 40 cents at $38.40 on Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. © The Canadian Press, 1999