CONTACT INFORMATION

Excelergy Corporation
www.excelergy.com

WASHINGTON, DC and LEXINGTON, MA., July 18, 2001 - Pepco Energy Services, a subsidiary of Washington, DC-based Potomac Electric Power Company, is now operational with the Excelergy Advanced Business Package ™ software product as part of Alliance Data System's overall suite of outsourced billing and payment processing solutions. These product-based solutions are designed to facilitate critical PES business processes such as customer service, acquisition, enrollment and billing in restructuring energy markets in the mid-Atlantic (US) region.

"Pepco Energy Services recognizes the central role Excelergy's product is playing in our overall effort to improve the timeliness and accuracy of our billing and customer service processes," said Mark Kumm, senior vice president of strategy and market research for Pepco Energy Services. "Thanks to our rapid implementation and conversion, we're now able to accelerate our market penetration across multiple jurisdictions while providing increasingly superior customer service. We're looking forward to the business results - increased revenues, profitability, collections, cash flow and growth."

Alliance Data Systems, with Excelergy working alongside, achieved operational status with Pepco Energy Services in less than nine weeks, followed by a complex data conversion completed within several weeks. "This is one of the smoothest implementations and conversions I have ever been involved with," said Bill Mareburger, Alliance Data Systems' project manager for the Pepco Energy Services project.

"We're delighted that Alliance Data Systems is using our software product as the cornerstone for managing Pepco's most critical and complex business processes," said Bill Mahoney, Excelergy's president and chief executive officer. "This validates the bottom-line benefits we deliver to our clients and market partners: low-risk, highly efficient products and technologies that lower costs and accelerate market entry and penetration."

Pepco Energy Services is now using the highly scalable Excelergy Advanced Business Package™ in conjunction with Alliance Data Systems' overall services suite to expand its commodity, product and service offerings to its rapidly growing number of customers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and Virginia. Pepco Energy Services' customer service, acquisition, enrollment, billing, retention and satisfaction are now achieved more cost-efficiently and accurately than ever before.

"What's most impressive about this is how quickly Excelergy and its partners replaced an outsourced solution from Pepco Energy Services' previous provider. Their outdated technology was inadequate for the client's needs, and could not accommodate Pepco Energy Services' aggressive growth objectives," added Mahoney. "So it's really a tribute to the world-class partnership and teamwork we employed to bring Pepco operational so quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively."

The Excelergy Advanced Business Package is a comprehensive, fully integrated business platform for automating and managing complex business processes - such as prospecting, customer care, complex billing, forecasting and settlement - that support multiple revenue streams. Built and developed exclusively for global restructuring markets, it enables clients to grow their businesses in the face of rapidly changing business processes, rules and standards.

Pepco Energy Services
Pepco Energy Services Inc., a wholly owned, separately managed subsidiary of Potomac Electric Power Company (NYSE: POM), provides residential, commercial, institutional and government customers a complete suite of integrated energy management products and services. These include electricity and natural gas; energy surveys; energy information systems; fuel management services; heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; lighting; project financing; and energy operations and maintenance services. Over the past twenty-four months, Pepco Energy Services was awarded nearly $800 million in energy and energy-related services contracts, and has provided energy or energy-related services to customers from Connecticut to Florida. More information is available at www.pepcoenergy.com.

About Excelergy
Excelergy delivers the world's most advanced software products and technologies for inter-company collaboration between businesses operating in restructuring markets, such as the global energy and utility industry. Excelergy's unique suite of object-based, XML-enabled products includes Excelergy eXACT for automating collaboration among businesses and Excelergy Advanced Business Package for managing multiple revenue streams from complex business units. Excelergy's North American headquarters are located in Lexington, MA, with its European headquarters located in Bristol, England. More information is available at www.excelergy.com.

About Alliance Data Systems
Based in Dallas, Alliance Data Systems is a leading provider of transaction services, credit services and marketing services, including one of the largest loyalty programs in North America. The company manages 72 million consumer accounts and processes 2.5 billion transactions annually. Alliance Data Systems employs approximately 6,000 associates at more than 20 locations in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. More information is available at www.alliancedatasystems.com.

# # #