A consortium of 21 energy and utility companies have formed anew company, Pantellos Corp., to operate an e-procurement web site,which was announced earlier this year. The companies also havehired Commerce One, a world leader in e-commerce site development,as their primary technology partner. Pantellos will have an initialcapitalization of $100 million.

The new web site will be used for the purchase and sale of goodsand services between the energy industry and its suppliers,targeting the $130 billion plus utility and energy supplymarketplace.

The consortium, which added six new members recently, announcedplans in March to develop the e-commerce platform. It will allowutilities and other energy companies to buy everything from powerturbines to office supplies. “It will be almost like a largeutility version of E-Bay,” said AEP spokesman Pat Hemlepp.

The new members include Carolina Power & Light, DTE Energy,Dominion Resources, El Paso Energy, GPU, Inc. and Ontario PowerGeneration. They join American Electric Power, Cinergy,Consolidated Edison International, Duke Energy, EdisonInternational, Entergy, FirstEnergy Corp., FPL Group, PG&ECorp., Public Service Enterprise Group, Reliant Energy, SempraEnergy, Southern Company, TXU Corp. and Unicom.

By bringing customers and suppliers together online, thefounders of Pantellos expect to streamline purchasing processes,shorten purchasing cycles, and increase accessibility betweenbuyers and sellers, according to PG&E Corp. CEO Robert D.Glynn, who added that the creation of the new online marketplacealso should promote supplier diversity.

“PG&E Corporation maintains a strong commitment to supplierdiversity,” said Glynn. “Pantellos will provide small andhistorically underutilized suppliers open, low-cost access andincreased market reach. Our support of Pantellos represents a greatopportunity for us to further our ongoing commitment to thesesuppliers. Specifically, through our businesses, we envision usingPantellos’ services in such a way as to enhance the access ofwomen- and minority-owned businesses.”

Pantellos is seeking participation from all interestedsuppliers. For more information see www.pantellos.com

Rocco Canonica

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