Business Wire

More than 60 percent of the wholesale power industry signs up as wholesale power trading tops 270,000 megawatt hours in first four weeks

PORTSMOUTH, NH, August 10, 1999 -- Imagine the amount of electricity needed to serve more than 415,000 homes in New England for a four-week period without interruption. That's how much power was bought and sold over the Internet through HoustonStreet.com during the first four weeks of trading on the Web-based wholesale power trading floor. Houston Street Exchange today announced that more than 60 percent (70 out of approximately 110) of the active wholesale power trading companies in the United States have either fully registered to trade power on HoustonStreet.com or are in the registration process. In the initial four weeks of trading (ending August 5, 1999), users bought and sold more than 270,000 megawatt hours.

HoustonStreet.com is the first fully Web-based online trading floor that serves as a portal for power traders, giving them easy access to critical weather, energy news and financial information and other direct links necessary for trading electricity. Rather than endure the frustration of relying on telephones for information, traders can use HoustonStreet.com to obtain real-time pricing and weather information to make the most informed deals over the Internet.

Designed by power traders for power traders, HoustonStreet.com enables users to post offers, make bids, counter and re-counter based on the product and term of their choice, much like they trade power today, only using a much more efficient and easy-to-use medium; the Internet. Since HoustonStreet.com's launch on July 8, 1999, power trading companies have begun to take notice. "HoustonStreet.com provides access to valuable market information through a single vehicle," said Tim Charette, a trader with Energy Atlantic. "Online trading is the way of the future and Houston Street is the first mover in this market."

Using HoustonStreet.com, traders can maintain total control over each transaction, view their complete trading history, sort offers and bids by price, term, volume and delivery point, and trade 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in a secure environment.

"The industry is beginning to take note that there is a much more efficient and simpler way of trading wholesale power than using telephones and static Web sites," said Frank Getman, Houston Street Exchange's president and CEO. "To have traded more than 270,000 megawatt hours in the first four weeks of HoustonStreet.com's existence proves that we are answering an industry need and that the market is ready for Internet-based trading."

About Houston Street Exchange
Designed by power traders for power traders, Houston Street Exchange has developed the first Web portal for trading wholesale electric power. HoustonStreet.com provides an online trading floor that allows power traders to buy and sell power faster, more efficiently and more easily than they do today. Houston Street Exchange is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Houston Street Exchange is a wholly owned subsidiary of BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., (AMEX: MWH).

This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause these forward-looking statements to be materially inaccurate. These factors include, without limitation, that (i) power traders may be unwilling or unable to use Internet-based power trading systems, including HoustonStreet.com, (ii) HoustonStreet.com may not be able to operate profitably, (iii) technological or systems outages could occur and (iv) competitors with greater financial, marketing or other resources could emerge. Trades on HoustonStreet.com may include transactions involving affiliates of BayCorp Holdings, Ltd. HoustonStreet.com is a registered service mark of Houston Street Exchange.