Novell and UtiliCorp Form Partnership to Deliver Smart Energy Networks over
Utility Power Lines

NEST Powerline Technology Allows Utility Companies to Provide Network Data
Communications into the Home and Office

WASHINGTON, DC -- September 13, 1995 -- Novell, Inc. and UtiliCorp United
today announced a partnership that will utilize existing power lines to
better manage energy consumption in home and business environments. As the
founding members of the Smart Energy Network Alliance, an open industry
consortium, Novell and UtiliCorp will use Novell Embedded Systems
Technology (NEST) to exchange information over conventional power lines.
This capability will form the basis of new energy management programs that
will result in more efficient and economic use of energy.

Under the terms of this partnership, Novell and UtiliCorp will co- develop
and jointly market applications that allow customers to optimize their use
of energy on a 24 hour, real-time basis. The two companies will jointly
market products, expected to be commercially available during 1996,
through a combined Novell and UtiliCorp United EnergyOne branding
program.

"Our two companies share a global vision in which the future of information
systems and energy use are increasingly intertwined," said Richard C.
Green, Jr., UtiliCorp chairman and president. "This partnership launches
the interface between Novell's networking technology and the utility
industry's infrastructure and customer base, thereby opening the door to
industry-wide standards for networked communications."

Smart Energy Network Alliance

"Novell, through the Smart Energy Network Alliance and partnerships, is
committed to providing leadership in defining the standards for future
energy programs, network management and other smart energy network
solutions," said Robert J. Frankenberg, chairman and CEO of Novell. "As
the leading supplier of networking technology and services, Novell is
strategically positioned to bring the utility industry into the world of
smart energy networks and make networking as pervasive as the electric
utility."

The goal of the Smart Energy Network Alliance is to accelerate the delivery
of economical energy management solutions based on networking technologies
such as NEST, and to provide a platform for standardization and
cooperation between utilities, equipment and appliance manufacturers, and
software application developers. The alliance will allow Novell to
leverage their proven core technologies to provide the tools and support
for energy companies to offer consumers data communications within their
existing energy infrastructure.

As Novell's founding partner, UtiliCorp will bring both its own proprietary
energy management technology as well as the expertise it has developed as
a leader in the world's energy market.

Novell Announces NEST Powerline Technology

Novell's NEST Powerline technology uses existing power lines to transfer
data at speeds up to 2 megabits per second while making bi-directional
network communications as simple as plugging an intelligent device into an
electric wall outlet. The result is a smart energy network capable of
providing data services such as power quality solutions, security
monitoring systems, and global network services.

Utility companies will use NEST Powerline technology to fully automate and
manage everything on a smart energy network from temperature controls to
refrigerators, air conditioners and fax machines. This level of control
will allow utilities to exercise demand side power management and allocate
energy resources depending on the specific need of a device at a given
time. This method of energy resource management will result in significant
benefits to all who consume energy, as well as to utilities that generate
and distribute energy to their customers.

"Smart energy network management means that large companies, businesses of
all sizes and the home consumer, will receive more value for their energy
expenditures," said Frankenberg. "Energy customers will be able to achieve
dramatic energy efficiencies by making the energy consuming devices
intelligent with NEST, and then using the energy management applications
co-developed by UtiliCorp and Novell to operate them more efficiently.
This kind of highly efficient energy management is a tremendous benefit to
the environment, as well as to the home and business owner," Frankenberg
added.

UtiliCorp

UtiliCorp United is an international electric and gas company with energy
customers and operations across the U.S. and in Canada, Great Britain, New
Zealand, Australia and Jamaica. Earlier this year it launched EnergyOne,
the first nationally branded line of products and services for electric
and gas utility customers. UtiliCorp has grown rapidly over the past
decade through utility mergers and acquisitions and by starting
non-regulated energy related businesses.
 
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