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Excelergy
www.excelergy.com

BOSTON, MA., October 6, 1999 -Boston Gas, the region's leading natural gas distributor, and Excelergy, a leader in application and transaction services for the energy market, today announced a multi-year, strategic partnership. Boston Gas will be utilizing Excelergy's advanced billing software as part of the companies' joint implementation of a highly scalable, enterprise-wide, billing and customer information management system. This move comes amid major changes in the local energy market since Massachusetts began implementing customer choice.

"Boston Gas actively pursues new technologies and processes that will help us quickly and efficiently respond to the changing energy marketplace," said Gene Zimon, vice president for information services for Boston Gas. "Excelergy's products were developed with the understanding of the paradigm of deregulation and the critical need for internet-enabled transaction processing. We chose Excelergy because they can help Boston Gas develop a cost-effective solution to implementing customer choice in Massachusetts, while at the same time, providing a migration path to a more modular and flexible solution for customer management."

Engineered to meet the competitive demands of the deregulated energy market, Excelergy's fully EDI compliant advanced billing platform, ABP 1200, will be implemented and extended as part of the customer information management system for Boston Gas, Essex Gas and Colonial Gas. Completion of the first two phases of implementation is scheduled for calendar year 2000. ABP 1200 is a web-enabled platform that allows users to build a highly scalable and customized system.

"We share Boston Gas' commitment to quality service and energy choice and are excited that they have chosen us as a partner," said Cary Bullock, president of Excelergy. "Boston Gas is also a forward thinking company that understands what it takes to succeed in the deregulated market, and we look forward to working closely with them."

The company's other retail energy market products include Excelergy eXACT™ (Electronic information transaction system) and Excelergy WERCS™ (Web-enabled Response Channel System). A leading provider of software solutions for the deregulated energy industry, Excelergy's product suite is the only EDI-compatible system currently available for the retail energy markets. Excelergy also offers Energymarketplace.com, an Internet site that provides consumers with energy choice information and allows energy service providers to bid for new energy customers.

Boston Gas, Essex Gas and Colonial Gas are wholly owned subsidiaries of Eastern Enterprises (NYSE:EFU). With over 1,700 employees, they are dedicated to the safe, reliable and efficient delivery of natural gas to homes, businesses and institutions statewide. Eastern Enterprises also owns and operates Midland Enterprises Inc. and ServicEdge Partners, Inc. Upon completion of the pending merger with EnergyNorth, Inc., Eastern will serve over 800,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Understanding the new business model of the deregulated energy industry - a market estimated to be worth $300 billion- Excelergy developed their software solutions to be flexible, scalable and web-based to lower transaction costs and improve customer service. As a result, Excelergy, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, has grown rapidly to become one of the leaders in billing, customer care and transaction management solutions for the retail energy market.

Companies that use Excelergy's products and services include: Allegheny Energy, APS Energy Services, Aquila Energy Marketing Corp, Boston Gas, Cleen 'n' Green Energy, Commonwealth Energy Corp., Constellation Energy, Cook Inlet Energy Supply, Duke Energy Trading and Marketing, L.L.C., Engage, First Energy Services, Illinova Energy Partners, Penn Power, PG&E, POCO, Preferred Energy Retail, SCANA Energy Marketing, SDG&E, Southern California Gas Co., TXU Energy Services, Utilicorp Energy Solutions.

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