Gas Industry-DOE Strategic Partnership Pays Off!

From GAX Venture, LLC
For more information contact Joel Anderson at (601) 961-6882
For Immediate Release Thursday, March 23, 2000

   PRESS RELEASE

   Gas Industry-DOE Strategic Partnership Pays Off!

   A partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the natural gas industry got a major boost today with the announcement that a manufacturing contract has been signed with ITT Industries and Goettl Air Conditioning, Inc.
   Three years ago five U.S. natural gas companies - Southern California Gas, Southwest Gas, Williams/Texas Gas, Southern Natural Gas Company and Mississippi Energies, Inc. formed the GAX Venture, LLC, a consortium for the development and commercialization of natural gas fired air-conditioning equipment. The first ten residential natural gas air-conditioners will be field tested this summer as the result of support and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
   "I am very pleased to see our research investment into unitary and commercial gas cooling and heat pump technology turning into an asset for U.S. energy and manufacturing companies," said Dan Reicher, Assistant Secretary of Energy - Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. The DOE effort was managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory-Building Technology Group.
   Joel Anderson, a spokesperson for the GAX Venture, LLC said, "The recent accomplishments by our development entity, Rocky Research, appear to meet or exceed all goals of our business plan. The next logical step was for us to contractually firm up the partnerships with Rocky Research's development partners, ITT and Goettl."
   ITT will fabricate the ammonia-water absorption modules developed by Rocky Research. Goettl will employ its packaging capabilities to deliver air-conditioners and eventually heat pumps to the residential and commercial markets. The initial product will be a 5-ton capacity air-conditioner, which is expected to pave the commercialization path for a complete product line that will include 3-ton, 4-ton and 5-ton capacity heat pumps.
   Southern California Gas Company is the largest gas distribution company in the U.S., with 5 million customers, and is headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, CA.
   Southwest Gas Company, the fastest growing gas distribution company in the U.S., serves over 1,250,000 customers in California, Nevada and Arizona and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.
   Williams Gas Pipeline-Texas Gas, based in Owensboro, KY owns and operates a 6,000- mile pipeline system serving markets in the South and lower Midwest. Williams' Gas Pipeline Group, with headquarters in Houston, TX is among the nation's largest-volume transporters of natural gas.
   Southern Natural Gas Company with headquarters in Birmingham, AL is owned by El Paso Energy Corporation of Houston, TX. El Paso owns North America's largest natural gas pipeline system, both in terms of throughput and miles of pipeline, and has operations in natural gas transmission, merchant energy services, power generation, international project development and gas and oil production.
   Mississippi Energies, Inc. is a subsidiary of Mississippi Valley Gas Company, the largest natural gas distribution company in Mississippi, with headquarters in Jackson, MS.
   Rocky Research of Boulder City, NV is a new product development and service provider for thermal appliances and systems.
   ITT Heat Transfer Unit of ITT Industries, located in Buffalo, NY is a major manufacturer of heat transfer equipment. ITT Industries with headquarters in White Plains, NY is a worldwide manufacturing conglomerate.
   Goettl Air Conditioning, which has manufactured space conditioning products since 1939, is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.
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