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BEND, OR., May 17, 1999 - Orcom Solutions and AltaGas Utilities recently achieved go-live and produced the first customer bills on the utility's new CIS, culminating an implementation that brought the CIS project in on time and on budget. The implementation, including data conversion from a legacy system that was not Year 2000 compliant and customizing to meet Canadian natural gas industry requirements, was achieved in less than nine months. In addition to Delivering its Enterprise CIS (E-CIS), Orcom developed a new Equipment Sampling application to help AltaGas comply with government-mandated meter testing and recertification. AltaGas Utilities, serving 55,000 natural gas customers from its headquarters in Leduc, Alberta, Canada was formerly known as Centra Gas Alberta.

Orcom Solutions and AltaGas Utilities recently achieved go-live and produced the first customer bills on the utility's new CIS, culminating an implementation that brought the CIS project in on time and on budget. The implementation, including data conversion from a legacy system that was not Year 2000 compliant and customizing to meet Canadian natural gas industry requirements, was achieved in less than nine months. In addition to Delivering its Enterprise CIS (E-CIS), Orcom developed a new Equipment Sampling application to help AltaGas comply with government-mandated meter testing and recertification. AltaGas Utilities, serving 55,000 natural gas customers from its headquarters in Leduc, Alberta, Canada was formerly known as Centra Gas Alberta.

Orcom Solutions and AltaGas Utilities recently achieved go-live and produced the first customer bills on the utility's new CIS, culminating an implementation that brought the CIS project in on time and on budget. The implementation, including data conversion from a legacy system that was not Year 2000 compliant and customizing to meet Canadian natural gas industry requirements, was achieved in less than nine months. In addition to Delivering its Enterprise CIS (E-CIS), Orcom developed a new Equipment Sampling application to help AltaGas comply with government-mandated meter testing and recertification. AltaGas Utilities, serving 55,000 natural gas customers from its headquarters in Leduc, Alberta, Canada was formerly known as Centra Gas Alberta.

Orcom Solutions and AltaGas Utilities recently achieved go-live and produced the first customer bills on the utility's new CIS, culminating an implementation that brought the CIS project in on time and on budget. The implementation, including data conversion from a legacy system that was not Year 2000 compliant and customizing to meet Canadian natural gas industry requirements, was achieved in less than nine months. In addition to Delivering its Enterprise CIS (E-CIS), Orcom developed a new Equipment Sampling application to help AltaGas comply with government-mandated meter testing and recertification. AltaGas Utilities, serving 55,000 natural gas customers from its headquarters in Leduc, Alberta, Canada was formerly known as Centra Gas Alberta.

Lorne Heikkinen, president of AltaGas Utilities and a 22-year veteran of the utility industry, said, "Installing a new billing system is the biggest project a utility ever undertakes. I have never seen or heard of a conversion that went anywhere near as well as this one. The implementation process was exceptional. Our people are impressed and everything is running extremely well."

Prior to selecting Orcom, AltaGas conducted an evaluation of the vendors selected as finalists. Finalists were rated in three critical areas – functionality, capital and operating costs, and risk assessment, including conversion, financial and operating risks. "Orcom won in all categories," said Heikkinen.

The utility chose to implement the CIS using Orcom's standard setup model, which reflects industry "best practice" business processes, to allow a faster implementation. "Orcom had good business processes built into its CIS, so we modified our business processes to fit Orcom's standard setup," said Arnold Mantei, Director and Controller at AltaGas and the primary project sponsor. "The Orcom CIS was a good fit for us."

Several aspects of the project required customization, including a CIS feature to Handle the complex conversion of volume to energy, taking into account normal pressure, temperature and energy content factors used in billing for natural gas consumption. Orcom also added the ability to charge and track the franchise taxes AltaGas collects on behalf of municipal governments.

Orcom's new Equipment Sampling application will help AltaGas meet the meter sampling required of Canadian utilities. Under a government legislated program, utilities must sample meters at seven year intervals to test their accuracy, and recall any meters that fail the test. "Orcom really stepped up to the plate and performed all the requirements we needed to process and analyze our daily meter data," observed Heikkinen.

Drew Child, president of Orcom Solutions, said, "We are excited to partner with our first Canadian natural gas company and to develop the functionality they need to take full advantage of our E-CIS. This was a team effort all the way. The core group of AltaGas management and staff represented all facets of the company. They were thoroughly dedicated to the success of the project. This was truly a collaborative effort from start to finish."

About Orcom Solutions
Orcom Solutions is headquartered in Bend, Oregon, operates an office in Denver, Colorado and delivers outsourcing services from its Customer Service Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Orcom currently has more than 600 employees devoted exclusively to providing solutions for utilities and energy providers around the world. Orcom has received the IBM Mark of Quality Award for four consecutive years. In 1998, Orcom received IBM's highest level of recognition with a Gold Level award, a distinction held by only a few of IBM's Business Partners. Orcom Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of en.able, LLC, headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado.

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