CONTACT INFORMATION

SPL WorldGroup
www.splwg.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA., February 16, 1999 – SPL WorldGroup, Inc. (SPL), a leading international provider of information technology consulting and enterprise solutions, today announced that Pacific Gas and Electric Company has licensed SPL's CIS PLUS®. CIS PLUS is considered to be the premier customer information system for utility companies.  The new system will enhance the services Pacific Gas and Electric Company provides to13 million people in its service area in Northern and Central California.    This multi-million dollar contract will provide the utility with a new billing engine this year.  In addition, all of the company's legacy customer information applications will be migrated to CIS PLUS over the next few years.  As a result, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will have increased flexibility in its customer service capabilities.

“Our goal is to complete our customer information system replacement as quickly as possible,” said Damien Brooks, Customer Information Systems Manager at Pacific Gas and Electric Company.  “We see the use of SPL WorldGroup's CIS PLUS as a key element in our strategy to meet that goal, while maintaining safe, reliable service and keeping customers satisfied.”

“In an increasingly demanding environment, CIS PLUS is blazing a trail as the customer information system of choice for the utility industry, ”said Andy Noronha, senior analyst at G2R. “With the addition of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the largest utility companies in North America, SPL WorldGroup now counts fifteen utilities among its customers, who have chosen the system because of its scalability, flexibility and rich functionality.”

SPL's Phased Implementation Methodology
SPL, using CIS PLUS, has developed a phased method of implementation for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.  By phasing in the new solution, the risks inherent in adopting a new system are reduced and customers can begin to benefit from the new technology immediately.  Under this strategy the particular needs of individual customer groups can also be addressed individually.  As a result, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will meet the requirements of deregulation much sooner than if a comprehensive ‘big bang' implementation strategy had been adopted.

The initial implementation of CIS PLUS will operate with Pacific Gas and Electric Company's legacy systems and existing customer interfaces.  The system will manage the more complex billing algorithms introduced with deregulation. The company's Genesis system will use the CIS PLUS rating engine to calculate industrial, commercial and residential gas and electric rates and produce detailed billing lines. Using the flexibility inherent in the CIS PLUS rates subsystem, Pacific Gas and Electric Company will pass the raw billing data to CIS PLUS, which will perform the complex calculations and produce the detailed billing lines. With the replacement of all of its legacy customer information systems over time, the utility will migrate to a single fully integrated system.  The project takes advantage of SPL's tactical skills and above all, its strategic knowledge of the utilities industry.

“Pacific Gas and Electric Company's openness to innovation and constant drive to provide better service to their users make them a great partner to work with,” said Jim Reardon, senior vice president of SPL WorldGroup's Utility Solutions Practice. “Working together we can lead the utilities industry in addressing key issues such as deregulation and service reliability.”

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation {NYSE:PCG}, is one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric and gas utilities, delivering energy to about 13 million people in Northern and Central California.  The company's 70,000-square-mile service area stretches from Eureka in the north to Bakersfield in the south and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Sierra Nevada in the east.

About SPL WorldGroup
SPL WorldGroup, established in 1994, is a leading international provider of information technology (IT) consulting and enterprise solutions to organizations with mission critical information needs. With over 1000 professionals in 10 countries and 30 years of experience through its subsidiaries, SPL delivers IT solutions to its clients which are Global 2000 companies in utilities, financial services, healthcare, higher education, and the public sector industries.  In the early 1990's, SPL formed a dedicated Utility Solutions Practice comprised of dedicated product development, sales, marketing and support staff to help address the specific needs of utilities, in particular those facing deregulation. SPL WorldGroup is on the World Wide Web at www.splwg.com or call (888) 775-8191.

About CIS PLUS
SPL's CIS PLUS is a customer information system designed to automate and support all aspects of customer service and management in a utility market that is both regulated and deregulated. It integrates customer information – such as billing, contact management, marketing, outage management and service data - in an easy-to-use, real-time system that enables utilities to create and build customer satisfaction.  It is currently installed at fourteen of the most progressive utilities in the world.  The product is designed to accommodate both utility (electric, gas, water) and non-utility services (loans, merchandise sales, leases) from within a single or multi-company environment.

SPL WorldGroup and CIS PLUS are registered trademarks of SPL WorldGroup B.V. or one of its subsidiaries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 1998 SPL WorldGroup B.V.

# # #