PowerSpring Inc. is preparing to muscle its way into the virtualmarketplace next month, offering commercial and industrial energyusers an online shopping area to take better advantage ofderegulation. Officials yesterday touted the launch of its newInternet site, www.powerspring.com, promising energy users the “bigplayer” benefits of deregulation – market clout and savings.Through its website, PowerSpring plans to manage energy use for itscustomers by using aggregated customer demand, an online auctionand customized reports.

Sidney Hinton was named president and CEO of PowerSpring yesterdayat the launch, which coincided with parent company Metretek’s annualshareholder meeting in Denver. The new company was first announcedlast month (see NGI April11). “PowerSpring has the potential to revolutionize the purchaseand management of energy among an ever-growing universe of commercialenergy users,” Hinton said.

PowerSpring’s virtual energy marketplace, designed by e-businesspartner Scient, will offer a single source for purchasing andmanaging energy, with customers receiving one consolidated bill.Initially, the service will only be available to commercial andindustrial natural gas users, however, as deregulation grows,PowerSpring plans to expand the coverage area.

PowerSpring will install Metretek Technologies’ Automatic MeterReaders (AMRs), a system now used by nearly 70% of the industrialmarket. On its website, PowerSpring will provide customers withstate-by-state news about natural gas and electricity, andcustomized reports and usage graphs will allow users to immediatelygauge the impact of energy-saving measures.

PowerSpring’s commercial customers will pay $1 a day for usingthe system. Those customers also will pay 0.5% to 1% of theirburnertip cost and receive audited meter readings and back officereports of their gas usage. Another page on the website will hostan energy portal to help end users organize grassroots efforts toinfluence local rulemaking to favor competition.

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