CONTACT INFORMATION

SPL WorldGroup, Inc.
www.splwg.com

MORRISTOWN, NJ., March 1, 2001 - SPL WorldGroup B.V. (SPL), the leading provider of customer management solutions to the global energy industry, announced today that UtiliCorp United (NYSE:UCU) has successfully implemented SPL's CIS PLUS® solution to manage their customer information for UtiliCorp Networks Canada.

The Calgary-based UtiliCorp Networks Canada unit began operating a 90,000-kilometer electrical distribution network in September 2000, serving about 380,000 former TransAlta customers in southern and central Alberta. The implementation of a customer management solution to Support these operations needed to be achieved quickly and the SPL solution was deployed successfully in under five months.

Benefiting from the flexibility and ease of deployment of the SPL product, UtiliCorp United has now successfully implemented the SPL customer management solution in a range of different markets and geographies including; a vertically integrated market in the United States, a retail market in Australia in both electric and gas and now, in a pure electric distribution environment in Canada. Australia also recently added 560,000 gas retail customers to their system bringing the total number of UtiliCorp customers being managed by the product tomore than two and a half million (2,500,000)

According toMr. Gary Hanson, UtiliCorp United's General Manager of Information Services, "We needed a proven solution that could be implemented rapidly and we have been consistently successful with SPL in the past. The project was jointly managed, and both UtiliCorp and SPL's teams worked cooperatively for an amazingly smooth implementation."

"The successful implementation of UtiliCorp Networks Canada completes a full circle of UtiliCorp use of SPL's customer management solution," said CD Hobbs, President and Chief Executive Officer, SPL WorldGroup. "After acquiring UtiliCorp Networks Canada in August of 2000, the company required a rapid implementation which we jointly achieved in less than five months. We are proud that the SPL solution continues tomeet UtiliCorp's customer management needs now and for the future."

About SPL WorldGroup
Established in 1994, SPL WorldGroup (SPL) is a leading provider of customer management solutions to the energy and service related industries in regulated and competitive markets worldwide. With a 100% record of successful implementations, SPL continues to demonstrate its place as the market leader in providing flexible and scalable customer management solutions that evolve with client requirements and enable unrivaled business responsiveness. SPL employs over 500 professionals in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and has delivered its customer management products tomore than 50 energy customers worldwide.

Visit SPL WorldGroup at www.splwg.com or call (415) 541-9462, or within the US and Canada call (800) 275-4775.

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

About UtiliCorp United
UtiliCorp United (NYSE:UCU) is an international energy and services company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Since being formed in 1985 from Missouri Public Service Company, UtiliCorp has grown through regulated and non-regulated energy acquisitions and investments totaling about $3 billion. At December 31, 2000, the company had total assets of $14.1 billion and annual sales of $29.0 billion.

The company serves about 4 million customers across the United States and in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. UtiliCorp serves electric and gas utility customers in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota through six divisions: Missouri Public Service, Kansas Public Service, Peoples Natural Gas, WestPlains Energy, Northern Minnesota Utilities, and Michigan Gas Utilities. Customers in British Columbia are served through West Kootenay Power, a Canadian subsidiary.

In September 2000, its Calgary-based UtiliCorp Networks Canada unit began operating a 90,000-kilometer electrical distribution network serving about 380,000 former TransAlta customers in southern and central Alberta.

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