The Structure Group Announces Formation of AMI/MDM-SmartGrid Consulting Practice

Eric Smith and Gary Murphy Join Structure's Executive Team to
Support New Practice Area
TAMPA, Fla. & HOUSTON--(Business Wire)--The Structure Group(R), an industry leader in strategic business
consulting services for major energy-market companies, has announced
the formation of a new "AMI/MDM - SmartGrid" consulting practice. The
announcement was made today at the 2008 Distributech Conference &
Exhibition at the Tampa Convention Center.

Structure's AMI/MDM - SmartGrid practice is a team of highly
experienced professionals who can provide consulting, design,
implementation and integration services for a full spectrum of
SmartGrid systems, components, and applications. Practice team members
have hands-on experience in developing strategies and roadmaps,
developing business cases, architecting solutions, developing
requirements, supporting the procurement process, implementing
solutions, and managing projects.

"The Energy Policy Act, growing government pressure, and an
ever-increasing sense of urgency around energy conservation and
environmental sustainability are driving the need for advanced
metering and the systems that support the collection and analysis of
data from smart meters," said David Shepheard, Structure Principal and
Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development. "Although the
first large-scale SmartGrids are still several years away, they must
begin with a comprehensive and carefully thought out road map. Most
consulting companies in the AMI/MDM space provide specialized but
narrow industry expertise. In addition to comprehensive AMI/MDM -
SmartGrid expertise, Structure offers in-depth knowledge in Energy
Trading and Risk Management, Utility Asset Management, Grid Operations
and Optimization, and ISO Market Solutions. This broad, energy
industry expertise allows us to take a holistic view in creating a
SmartGrid roadmap, and that's going to offer bigger benefits for
energy distributors, suppliers and consumers," said Shepheard.

Two new executives have joined Structure to support the new
practice. Eric Smith has been appointed Director of the AMI/MDM
-SmartGrid practice group, and Gary W. Murphy has been appointed
Director in Structure's Consulting Business Unit with primary
responsibility for business development and client support in
Transmission & Distribution with a focus on AMI/MDM, SmartGrid, and
Asset Management.

Eric Smith has more than 20 years of utility and AMR/AMI product
experience, and was a founding member of the Automatic Meter Reading
Association. Eric has provided guidance to leading distribution
utilities across North America on AMI, MDM and SmartGrid strategies
and designs. Prior to joining The Structure Group, Eric served as
Senior Vice President and Enterprise Technology Practice Lead for
Gestalt-LLC. He also served in senior management positions with Silver
Spring Networks, a leading ANI network communications vendor and
IMServ, a diversified provider of AMI implementation services and
contract metering solutions. Eric's career in metering began at
American Meter, where he was Director of Marketing for Automated
Systems.

Gary Murphy also comes to Structure from Gestalt-LLC, where he
supported the start-up of the company's Energy and Utility practice
and also served as Senior Vice President and Co-Lead of the
AMI/MDM-Smart Grid Practice. Gary brings more than 20 years of
experience in the energy and utility industry beginning at PECO
Energy's (now Exelon) nuclear program where he was intimately involved
in reinventing PECO's approach to managing its nuclear facilities. He
was then appointed to head up the reengineering of PECO's gas and
electric T&D business. Gary was later asked to co-lead the start-up of
Exelon's unregulated T&D construction and service business,
InfraSource where he began his utility consulting career.

For more information on Structure's Operations and Optimization
Practice, contact Eric Smith at eric.smith@thestructuregroup.com.

About The Structure Group

The Structure Group is a leading provider of consulting services
and business solutions to energy market participants in North America
and Europe. Established in 1998, Structure has experience working with
organizations in all stages of the energy value chain. For more
information, visit www.thestructuregroup.com.

The Structure Group
Angela Hudson, Marketing, 281-217-2001
angela.hudson@thestructuregroup.com
www.thestructuregroup.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008