HOUSTON, Jan. 17, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- KWI, the leading provider of risk management and trading software for the global energy industry, today announced that PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of ScottishPower, has contracted to upgrade its energy trading and risk management (ETRM) system to KWI's K2. PacifiCorp made the decision to deploy K2 to help support the growth of its energy management business and address the increasing levels of regulatory compliance.
PacifiCorp is one of the lowest-cost electricity producers in the United States. The company is also one of the largest utilities in the Western U.S. with more than 8,300 MW of generation capacity and 1.6 million customers.
After considering other competitor and in-house solutions, PacifiCorp decided to deploy KWI's K2 to support its current and future energy and risk management operations. Through its flexible and scalable architecture, K2 meets PacifiCorp's requirements for complex asset modeling, multi-commodity positioning and mark-to-market (MtM) reporting. K2 will support PacifiCorp's strategy for managing growth, compliance activities, and replacing a number of highly customized in-house applications.
K2 enables effective risk management of PacifiCorp's electric, gas and ancillary commodity portfolios. The KWI solution also provides interoperability with PacifiCorp's legacy systems, freeing up time previously spent on customizing IT structures to concentrate on strategic business aims.
Rick Ito, Vice President of Risk Management, PacifiCorp, said, "We sought a software partner that has a strong asset focus and an innovative product offering. The skills and professionalism displayed by KWI quickly won our confidence and the key features offered by K2 are easily aligned to our overall business strategy."
David Bucknall, chief executive officer, KWI, commented, "We are delighted that PacifiCorp has decided to expand its three-year relationship with KWI by upgrading to K2. KWI is experiencing significant momentum in the North American asset-heavy utilities market, and we will continue to work closely with our clients in this region to ensure our products meet their evolving needs."
The PacifiCorp deal contributes to the strong growth that KWI has achieved in North America over the last twelve months, during which nearly all of the company's North American customers have upgraded their software.
K2 has evolved from extensive development of kW3000 functionality and technology, and is now setting the global standard for cross-commodity ETRM software. K2 is a suite of eight best-of-breed product components, which seamlessly integrate to meet the needs of front-, middle- and back-office operations. The solution can be deployed as an integrated solution or as components alongside existing software solutions.
About KWI
KWI is a leading provider of trading and risk management software for the global energy industry. Developed specifically for global energy businesses, KWI's flagship product, K2, is a comprehensive suite of componentized, integrated applications for multi-commodity trading and risk management.
KWI is an international software company with customers in North America, Europe and Asia, including BP, ATEL, Alliant Energy, ENEL, Energi E2, MVM, PacifiCorp, Puget Sound Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), and WPS Energy Services.
More information available at www.kwi.com or call (866) 366 1952 (toll-free)
About PacifiCorp
PacifiCorp is one of the lowest-cost electricity producers in the United States, providing approximately 1.6 million customers with reliable, efficient energy. The company works to meet growing energy demand while protecting and enhancing the environment. PacifiCorp has more than 8,300 megawatts of generation capacity from coal, hydro, renewable wind power, gas-fired combustion turbines and geothermal. PacifiCorp operates as Pacific Power in Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and California; and as Utah Power in Utah and Idaho. The company merged with ScottishPower (NYSE:SPI) (LSE:SPW) in 1999.