GE Global Exchange Services' Internet Messaging Service is Certified by the Gas Industry Standards Board

Business Wire, August 22, 2001

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 22, 2001

Internet-Based Service Helps Utilities Manage Trading Partner

Relationships in Support of Deregulation

GE Global Exchange Services (NYSE:GE), a leader in business-to-business Internet commerce, today announced that its Internet-based messaging service for the energy industry has been certified by the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB), one of the industry's leading independent standards-setting bodies.

The messaging service is designed to enable energy companies to use the Internet to manage trading partner relationships within a deregulated marketplace.

The messaging service is part of GE Global eXchange Services' (GXS) Retail Choice Clearinghouse, which handles all of the electronic transactions related to customer enrollments, billing, and usage data.

The clearinghouse offers a fully outsourced solution to address the needs of the extended deregulated trading partner community - providing a single point of interconnection with multiple trading partners regardless of data interchange standards, access methods, or geography.

"In order to compete in a deregulated market, energy companies must be able to exchange customer data with their trading partners in a way that is cost effective and yet ensures the protection of that information from viewing by unauthorized parties," said Haskell Mayo, GXS's manager of global solutions. "Our GISB-certified Internet messaging service is an important component of our complete energy industry solution."

GXS has been a member of GISB since 1998. Several states - including Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Illinois - have already adopted GISB standards to define the required format for messages that allow utilities to efficiently and securely share customer data over the Internet in support of deregulation. Other states are considering adoption of GISB standards.

Prior to deregulation, data sharing standards such as GISB were not necessary, since customer data within a particular region was typically managed by a single utility.

GXS's messaging service has been certified as fully compliant with the GISB Electronic Delivery Mechanism version 1.4. This means that the service supports secure delivery of messages over the Internet using either unformatted data or electronic data interchange (EDI) formatted data.

About the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB)

The Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) is a voluntary, independent organization comprised of, and supported by, all segments of the natural gas industry. We are a non-profit, autonomous organization consisting of a board of directors, an executive committee, several working subcommittees and the general membership.

We have three main goals: First, the GISB will develop and maintain voluntary market based standards to simply and expand electronic communications and business practices which lead to a seamless marketplace for natural gas. We will develop these standards with input from all segments of the industry. Second, the GISB will serve as a forum for reaching market-responsive solutions.

Third, the GISB will enhance the reliability of gas service through easy access to the information standards needed for critical business transactions. Visit GISB on the Web at www.gisb.org.

About GE Global eXchange Services

GE Global eXchange Services (GXS) operates one of the largest B2B e-commerce networks in the world, with more than 100,000 trading partners. The network's 1 billion annual transactions account for $1 trillion in goods and services.

With a presence in 58 countries, GXS applies Six Sigma quality processes to provide e-commerce solutions that help businesses around the globe remove costs from their supply chains. GE Global eXchange Services is a part of the General Electric Company, U.S.A., and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md. Call 800/560-4347 or visit our Web site at www.gegxs.com.