EnergyConnect Group, Inc. CEO Interview: Kevin R. Evans

• On 11:21 am EDT, Tuesday September 22, 2009

67 WALL STREET, New York - September 22, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Alternative Energy/Clean Energy/Power Generation/Utilities Report report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 83 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Long Term Perspective on Alternative Energy Industry -- Leading Indicators for Alternative Energy Components Companies -- Mergers and Acquisitions in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Break Even Business Fundamentals for Carbon Free Energy Providers -- Development of Carbon Free Energy Production Infrastructure -- NAT GAS Act -- New Players in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Solar Power Cell Manufacturers Market Strategy -- Demand Response for Raw Materials for Solar Cell Production -- Alternative Energy Investment Opportunities -- Multiple Stock Winners in Carbon Free Production Industry -- Government Funding of Alternative Energy Power Providers -- Chinese Solar Energy Companies -- Alternative Energy Hedge Fund Investors -- Commodity Cycles -- Determinants of Market Valuations in the Alternative Energy Production Industry -- Carbon Emissions Statistics -- Energy Efficiency Statistics -- Innovations in Solar and Wind Power Generation -- Business Economics for Methane Based Power Generation -- Electric Vehicles Projections and Statistics-- Cap and Trade Projections and Statistics -- Development of Battery Technology -- Regulatory Environment Developments for Solar, Wind, and Alternative Energy -- Hybrid Vehicles Development and Sales Projections

Companies include: Tanfield (TAN.L); Smith Electric Vehicles U.S.; Valence (VLNC); Spire (SPIR); Newport (NEWP); MYR Group (MYRG); Primoris (PRIM); Tetra Tech (TTEK); EnerNOC (ENOC); Comverge (COMV); EnergyConnect (ECNG.OB); Calgon Carbon (CCC); and Ener1 (HEV); Westport Innovations (WPRT); Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE); Fuel Systems Solutions (FSYS); FuelCell Energy (FCEL); FEI Company (FEIC); Veeco (VECO); AT&T (ATT); Landi Renzo (LR.MI); Teleflex (TFX); Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A); Wal-Mart (WMT); Pepsico (PEP); FuelMaker; Chevrolet; GM; Honda (HMC); Itron (ITRI); Siemens (SI); American Superconductor (AMSC); GE (GE); and ABB (ABB);

In the following brief excerpt from the 83 page report, Kevin R. Evans, CEO and President of EnergyConnect, discusses the company and outlook for the sector and for investors.

TWST: Would you begin with a brief overview of the history and evolution of EnergyConnect?

Mr. Evans: Dating back to 2004, EnergyConnect was established to focus on the demand response marketplace. From then up until the present time, a number of decisions were made regarding how the company should evolve. At one point, there was a decision to merge it with an electrical contractor, as the thinking was the installation requirements of metering would be a synergistic combination. Last year the board and management team made a decision that it really wasn't the best fit, and EnergyConnect was best as a stand-alone business focused on price-responsive demand. So Christensen Electric was spun off and EnergyConnect became a stand-alone business.

TWST: Would you give us an idea of your marketplace, customers and geography?

Mr. Evans: Our primary focus is in the commercial and industrial sector, which makes up about two-thirds of electricity consumption. We target the largest users of electricity. Geographically, we're primarily focused on an area called PJM, which is basically the Mid-Atlantic area just south of New York, starting at the Atlantic coast and going west to Chicago. That area represents about 20% to 25% of the electricity consumed in the United States. Our secondary markets are New England and California.

TWST: What does the customer base look like and what's changing within the landscape as far as your competitive dynamics go?

Mr. Evans: We have a number of different verticals we serve - the steel mills, cement plants, universities, hospitals, commercial buildings and government facilities. We target large customers with automated production capability. A good example would be cement plants as they are large users of electricity and have some flexibility in their production cycles. We're also engaged with food processing businesses, specifically flash-freezing and refrigeration operations, which gives us an opportunity to work with them on how and when they use their electricity. On the commercial or institutional side, we work with large office buildings and campuses where there are lighting and HVAC requirements. We have a large university footprint where, in effect, a university campus is much like a small city, as it has its own air conditioning control capabilities as well as other back-up generation. So we focus on a broad array of large commercial and industrial customers.

TWST: Are the barriers to entry into your market segment very high? If so, does the intellectual property you have remove some of that competitive threat?

Mr. Evans: Yes, I think the barriers to entry are high, and I would characterize the market as one where we're dealing in a fairly regulated environment. Hence, actually becoming involved in those markets, getting to know them and understand how they work often favor the incumbent utilities. I think those are the barriers to entry we see most. FERC has taken a number of steps, in particular last year, by issuing their Order 719 that really said, "We will open up the markets to demand response providers like EnergyConnect." What we've really tried to do is focus on how we, one, educate customers about what demand response is and the potential for them to reduce their energy costs, and two, how to provide those customers with a technology platform to make demand response easy. One of the things that we've done with our technology is really focus on automating the interface and allowing customers to better understand their use of electricity, and how they can take advantage of their flexibility to lower their energy costs by choosing to reduce usage during high-price times of the day.

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