ATLANTA – March 22, 2006 – The need to get the most from their assets is driving utilities to rethink their approach to asset management (AM).

The latest report from Chartwell’s Energy Delivery & Reliability Research Series, Asset Management in the Utility Industry, examines what forces make AM so important now and how utilities are responding.

Today, utilities carefully think about how each group of assets supports the overall corporate mission and then operate those assets to maximize revenues. Companies no longer consider operations and maintenance (O&M) costs unavoidable expenses. They want to see exactly how performing maintenance will improve the bottom line. If it does not, then alternatives to maintenance are considered.

Asset Management in the Utility Industry also examines the significant changes in the role of asset manager. Once relegated to divisions, utilities are now moving the AM position up the chain of command — in some cases to the level of vice president. And, asset managers now need to understand corporate accounting and finance and how to use complex database system, as well as how the assets operate.

The report concludes that asset management will continue to be critical to utilities in the foreseeable future, for many reasons. For example, many regions of the country are in the midst of long-term, large- scale repair and storm hardening programs. Furthermore, utilities are preparing to start new construction projects and make system upgrades in conjunction with, among other things, aging infrastructure and load growth.

For information regarding the Energy Delivery and Reliability Research Series or Chartwell's Premier membership, contact Bill Grist at (404) 237-9099 or (800) 432-5879. A free table of contents and summary of this report can be downloaded at www.energylibrary.com.

Asset Management in the Utility Industry is the series’ inaugural report. Upcoming report topics will cover areas such as:

• Reliability Standards
• Outage Management
• Smart Grid Technologies