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April 2004 The Structure Group to Offer nMarket™ Infrastructure Hosting Through Alliance with EC Power The Structure Group, a leading provider of business solutions to the energy industry, has announced it will offer an infrastructure hosting option for its nMarket™ software clients through an alliance with EC Power. This offering will allow nMarket™ clients to outsource the hardware and operating system/database software acquisition and maintenance as well as first-line IT support for the product through Structure. Different from an ASP solution, this offering will allow the client full access to the nMarket™ application and databases/files while the management of the infrastructure and technical support is performed off-site. "With capital budgets continuing to tighten, our infrastructure hosting offering is drawing interest from all sizes of clients due to significantly lower start-up cost for clients moving from spreadsheets to a robust applications suite as well as those entering an ISO market for the first time," Structure principal Lisa Blackwood said. "For existing market players aiming to upgrade or replace out-of-date market solutions with nMarket™, the reduced investment in new hardware and Oracle licenses leads to a more compelling business case for making the switch from an ASP, in-house or other third-party solution that just isn't feasible anymore." The cost to the client is typically the price for the nMarket™ modules required, a standard fixed fee implementation, along with the monthly cost associated with the EC Power hosting. Companies that will find this offering attractive include retailers that desire to take on scheduling services or use portions of nMarket™ for loading, viewing and analyzing market data and settlement files, small asset owners with recent acquisitions and companies performing other scheduling services as well as larger multi-market players with minimal activity in some geographies that want to standardize the nMarket™ solution without significant investment. Additional uses include temporary leases of the nMarket™ product to support settlement analysis such as re-runs from prior years. All hardware and software components required to operate the nMarket™ solution are provided by EC Power within the host-ing solution and include:  Secure, redundant EC Power data center  Unix and Windows2000 platforms for test and production environments that meet or exceed Structure's hard-ware/software specifications  Firewall configuration  Secure and reliable access to data center  Oracle Enterprise Edition  Oracle database performance/monitoring  Network performance/monitoring  Application server performance/monitoring  Application of nMarket™ and Oracle releases and patches The client portion of the nMarket™ solution and the Oracle client will be installed on each user's machine on-site at the client. The middle and database tiers will be installed and maintained at EC Power's data center in Houston. Clients will license software from Structure according to the same pricing and procedures currently in place for regular nMarket™ installations directly at client sites. High-level support features included with this hosting solution include:  Single point of contact for 24x7 technical support  Proactive technical support through the monitoring of hardware, software and connectivity  Standard Weekly Maintenance window for upgrades/backups. About EC Power In business since 1995 and based in Houston, EC Power has a long history in the fast moving e-commerce markets, facilitating business-to-business transaction movements in a rapid and cost-effective manner. The Company has significant experience in managing large-volume EDI hubs within the energy industry, and a proven track record of delivering reliable and timely electronic transaction management services to some of the nations leading energy companies. EC Power's experience extends far beyond the Texas market with connections to over 50 utilities in 15 deregulated states. Our national experience in the electric, gas, and oil industries provide clients with sound, secure and cost effective solutions. Contact: Lisa Shaw 713-403-8734 lisa.shaw@ec-power.com

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