Greater Sudbury Hydro Turns to Advanced Utility Systems Corporation

Greater Sudbury Hydro Inc. selects the Advanced Utility Systems Customer Information and Utility Billing Solution, CIS Infinity, to prepare for the May 1st Ontario Electric Market Opening

Toronto, Canada. February 22, 2002

Advanced Utility Systems Corporation (Advanced) announced today that Greater Sudbury Hydro Inc., the electricity provider for the City of Greater Sudbury, has contracted with Advanced Utility Systems Corporation to provide CIS Infinity® Customer Information and Utility Billing software. CIS Infinity will be provided on a license basis, to handle the customer information and billing needs of Greater Sudbury Hydro, and deal with the complexities of the competitive electric market in Ontario, which will open on May 1, 2002.

The contract was finalized in January, and implementation began immediately. Using a rapid implementation approach, Greater Sudbury Hydro and Advanced are striving to meet the goal of an operational CIS Solution by Market Opening. Greater Sudbury Hydro provides electrical services to approximately 43,000 customers in the City of Sudbury and surrounding areas. The Sudbury market is anticipated to be competitively active, with electric retailers able to target the mix of industrial, commercial and residential customers.

Frank Kallonen, Manager of Market Services and Information Technology for Greater Sudbury Hydro was instrumental in choosing Advanced, "We wanted to make sure we were selecting a CIS solution that could meet the complexities of the deregulating Ontario Market while maintaining control over the cost of providing the necessary services. We have been aware of CIS Infinity for many months, and after discussions with several of the customers of Advanced we knew it was the right solution for us."

Frank added, " Advanced is committed to the Ontario market, with over 20 current clients in place. We were impressed by this commitment, and recognize that they are the Ontario market leaders."

CIS Infinity will be used to handle the intricacies of the market including retailer billing and distributor billing. Beginning in May CIS Infinity will be used to interface via the Internet to the EBT clearing hubs in Ontario. This process will be streamlined and completely automated.

Patricia Sorbara, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced echoed Frank's words, "Each of our Ontario clients have put their faith in Advanced and CIS Infinity. We have dedicated significant resources, and are working closely with each client, to meet the challenge of deregulation in the Ontario electric market. We are enthusiastic about the changes we have made to both the software and our company, and we are looking forward to working with our clients throughout this exciting period."

Greater Sudbury Hydro will be using a SQL Server database, operating on clustered Pentium Class servers to ensure performance and reliability. Users will be able to use the system at the main office and at several cash payment facilities. In the short period of time that the implementation has been underway, significant progress has been made. The first stages in data conversion are completed, training plans are finalized and courses have begun, using their own data. Testing of deregulation functionality - which is underway at all of the clients of Advanced, has also begun in Sudbury where they ensure their unique practices and mix of customers can be handled efficiently and effectively.

Greater Sudbury Hydro provides electrical distribution, broadband data communications and retail services to over 43,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Sudbury. As one of the largest municipal electricity providers in Ontario, and a regional center for Northern Ontario, the company is focused on meeting the needs of its customers, and building on its strong market image.

More about Advanced: Advanced Utility Systems Corporation is a privately owned and operated software and services company in Toronto, Canada. The company has grown from its 1997 start-up to serve more than 60 North American and Caribbean water, electric, and natural gas utilities with its billing and customer information solution, CIS Infinity®.

For more information, contact:
Philip Playfair
Chief Marketing Officer
Advanced Utility Systems Corporation
(416) 496-0149 x229

Frank Kallonen
Manager of Market Services and Information Technology
Greater Sudbury Hydro
705 675 7536 x212

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