XCEL ENERGY SELECTS SILICON ENERGY FOR SOPHISTICATED DISTRIBUTION ASSET OPTIMIZATION SOLUTION

Phase I of EEM Suite Solution Will Include 1,850 Circuits in Five States Silicon Energy Corp. announced that Xcel Energy will install Silicon Energys Distribution Asset Optimization solution (DAO) to enhance Xcels distribution planning and operations capabilities.

XCEL ENERGY SELECTS SILICON ENERGY FOR SOPHISTICATED
DISTRIBUTION ASSET OPTIMIZATION SOLUTION
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Phase I of EEM Suite Solution Will Include 1,850 Circuits in Five States

ALAMEDA, Calif.; (December 3, 2002) -- Silicon Energy Corp., the leader in enterprise energy management, today announced that Xcel Energy will install Silicon Energys Distribution Asset Optimization solution (DAO) to enhance Xcels distribution planning and operations capabilities. The Silicon Energy DAO solution identifies load patterns and asset utilization for each distribution transformer and circuit. Utilizing historical billing and meter data, weather patterns, and proprietary analytics, Silicon Energy will provide year-round hourly load profiles for all transformers and related assets associated with the 1,850 circuits identified in Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

In cooperation with IBM Global Services (NYSE: IBM), Silicon Energy will receive data extracts from several of Xcel Energys existing customer and operating systems. The EEM Suite DAO solution will automatically identify and fill in any missing or incorrect SCADA or customer data, creating a complete and error free database of customer, device, and SCADA information. Customer information will then be individually weather adjusted, and localized load shapes applied to create a complete set of profiles for each transformer. Feeder SCADA and customer interval meter data will also be exported daily to the EEM Suite platform for browser access to user defined, standard reports. Customized reports created with Silicon Energys Datamarts will provide Xcel Energy with ad-hoc data utility-wide reporting capabilities. In addition, individual transformer loads will be exported to their network system modeling software, providing the ability to accurately model feeder loads for various time and weather scenarios.

Tim Taylor, Xcel Energys VP of Asset Management, explained the operational improvements he expects from improved asset loading information noting, with this system we will know the loading on all modeling devices anywhere on the circuit and on every transformer. Accurate knowledge of the loading downstream of a feeder breaker has traditionally been limited because of the cost of metering and data collection. Silicon Energys approach will provide actual utilization rates using our existing customer and SCADA information." The Distribution Asset Optimization solution will enable Xcel Energy to improve the utilization of its assets by knowing what assets are being over-utilized and what assets are being under-utilized; and avoiding failures due to load and heat. Taylor concluded, with a fully weather and time synchronized data set, we expect to better manage our capital spending and anticipate asset overloads. These are areas we can measure both operationally and financially."

About Xcel Energy
Xcel Energy is a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with regulated operations in 12 Western and Midwestern states. Formed by the merger of Denver-based New Century Energies and Minneapolis-based Northern States Power Co., Xcel Energy provides a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.2 million electricity customers and 1.7 million natural gas customers through its regulated operating companies. In terms of customers, it is the fourth-largest combination natural gas and electricity company in the nation. Company headquarters are located in Minneapolis. More information is available at www.xcelenergy.com.

About Silicon Energy
Silicon Energy Corp. creates EEM Suite, the industrys leading integrated data collection, warehousing, and analytic platform for the management of energy consumption information for utilities and major energy consumers. EEM Suites infrastructure streamlines the process of centralizing, validating, and warehousing meter information; calculating and validating bills; allocating utility costs; benchmarking, and budgeting energy consumption and spending. The EEM Suite analytic applications leverage meter, billing, production, weather and other information to improve customer service, optimize distribution assets, reduce energy consumption, costs, and manage peak demand. In addition to its software, Silicon Energy offers professional and maintenance services designed to help customers realize the full capabilities of its software, provide ongoing support, and outsource operations through its Management Service Provider (MSP) services. Silicon Energy is based in Alameda, Calif., with offices in Excelsior, Minnesota and Fairfax, Virginia. For more information visit http://www.siliconenergy.com.

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