Houston April 13, 2001 Altra Energy Technologies announced today that two divisions of the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR), the agency that now provides power scheduling and power purchasing for more than one-third of the state's energy needs, has selected Altra Power to manage the scheduling and settlements processes associated with these energy purchases.
In January, California Governor Gray Davis directed the CDWR to purchase power on behalf of the investor-owned utilities to help bring stability during the energy crisis that has resulted in rolling blackouts and high energy prices. Since then, two CDWR divisions, California Energy Resource Scheduling (CERS) and The State Water Project, have purchased enterprise-wide licenses of Altra Power to help them schedule energy transactions in the California power grid. The installation of Altra's software represents a technology and infrastructure upgrade for scheduling and settling power transactions through the California ISO.
"Tackling the job of controlling the state's energy situation required new solutions for managing the increased transaction volumes, especially in light of recent volatility in supply and prices," said CDWR Deputy Director Ray Hart. "We realized we needed advanced, secure software in place to handle what have become two important aspects of energy transactions scheduling and settlement."
"Our product will ensure that the information required for settlement with providers is accurate, auditable and secure," said Altra President and CEO Paul Bourke. "Altra Power makes it possible for the CDWR to focus on the task at hand energy procurement and delivery rather than focusing on data management issues." Altra also works closely with energy deregulation organizations in New York (the New York ISO), Texas (the ERCOT ISO), and other grid management organizations.
"Altra systems are the most widely used products for power scheduling and trading in California," said William Betts, Altra's senior vice president of sales. "We're confident that the Altra Power system will also provide the state with the level of flexibility, scalability and ease of deployment the current emergency situation requires, and will also serve them well over the longer term as the situation stabilizes."
