Press Releases
Group 8760's GISBAgent® Ensures Reliant Energy Ready for Texas Deregulation
December 4, 2001 - Houston, TX
In advance of Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) deadlines in preparation for the full launch of retail competition in Texas, Group 8760's GISBAgent® software has been successfully implemented at Reliant Energy.
Robert Frazier, Reliant Energy HL&P's IT director for deregulation preparation, noted that Group 8760 had successfully implemented GISBAgent®, enabling Reliant Energy to move large amounts of data between market players within Texas in advance of the original ERCOT pilot program launch date of June 1, 2001. Beginning in January 2002, the Texas Electric Choice program will be fully implemented and Texans will be able to choose an electric provider.
"The ease of implementation of Group 8760's GISB-certified GISBAgent® contributed greatly to being ready for the kickoff of retail competition in Texas," Frazier said. "We chose Group 8760 because of its experience in competitive markets and because we believed Group 8760's GISBAgent® would best serve the needs of Reliant Energy HL&P and Reliant Resources, our competitive affiliate. The value was evident in the implementation support and training we received."
Jim Mark, chief operating officer of Group 8760, said, "We have a successful track record as the market leader for enabling competition through GISB-certified solutions in both the deregulated gas and deregulated electric industry. Our customers trust us to implement a software infrastructure based on proven industry standards that allows them to concentrate on their core business issues during their move to competitive markets rather than trying to reinvent the wheel through proprietary data transport solutions."
"The choice to utilize the Electronic Delivery Mechanism standards developed by the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) once again illustrates the proven flexibility, security and reliability of the GISB Internet standards," said Jim Buccigross, vice president -- energy for Group 8760. "These are the same standards used in the deregulation programs in Pennsylvania and New York -- states that are both recognized for the successful rollout of customer choice programs. Reliant's choice of GISBAgent®, which is independently certified by GISB to meet its specifications, ensures a seamless and totally compliant implementation."
Reliant Energy, based in Houston, Texas, is an international energy services and energy delivery company with approximately $45 billion in annual revenues and total assets exceeding $33 billion. The company has nearly 25,000 megawatts of power generation in operation in the U.S. and is one of only three companies to rank among both the five largest power marketers and the five largest natural gas marketers in North America. The company also has wholesale trading and marketing operations and nearly 3,500 megawatts of power generation in Western Europe. Reliant Energy's retail marketing and distribution operations serve nearly four million electricity and natural gas customers in the U.S., and its Internet infrastructure and communications company serves business customers in Texas.
Group 8760 has been helping energy companies leverage technological and regulatory changes since 1996. Group 8760 has a 100 percent customer implementation success rate for the guaranteed delivery of the secure exchange of business transactions. GISBAgent® is the most widely used method for exchanging mission critical data between deregulated electric and gas utilities and their trading partners over the Internet, utilizing GISB transaction standards, and is the only product that has received the most current GISB 1.5 certification. GISBAgent® clients include the majority of the utility distribution companies in the deregulated markets of Pennsylvania and New York State, including Duquesne Light Company, Energetix, GPU, National Fuel Distribution Corporation, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, New York State Electric & Gas, Penn Power, PPL, PG Energy, Rochester Gas & Electric, and UGI Utilities, in addition to 30 other North American energy distribution companies and suppliers.