Overnite Software

DOT's Operator Qualification Rule Addressed; Reliant Energy Pipeline Services, OverNite Software, Inc. Form Partnership To Develop Web-Based Training Programs

HOUSTON, June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Reliant Energy OQ, a newly formed subsidiary of Reliant Energy Pipeline Services, and OverNite Software, Inc., Houston, have formed eWebOQ Partners, LLP. The new partnership will develop and market Internet-based training modules for use by the natural gas industry.

The first suite of modules is designed to assist industry organizations in achieving compliance with the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Operator Qualification Rule 49 CFR192, Subpart N.

The partnership merges the proven leadership and strength of Reliant Energy's experience and expertise in the energy industry with OverNite Software's established technologies and high-tech team of program developers, graphic designers, authors, and specialists.

"This partnership capitalizes on the strengths of both companies," said Dale C. Earwood, president of Reliant Energy Pipeline Services and president and chief operating officer of Reliant Energy Interstate Pipelines. "Reliant Energy's subject matter experts will provide the content and ensure it meets the new qualification rule. They will also work closely with OverNite Software during the creation of training modules. We will then market the modules to distribution and transmission companies and contractors serving the natural gas industry."

eWebOQ Partners, a limited liability corporation, will deliver state-of- the-art products using the internet as the distribution method to the geographically diverse natural gas industry. The Operation Qualification suite will be the first group in a planned series of training products designed for the industry by industry experts in Houston, the world's energy capital. The interactive modules will deliver specific task training and record-keeping, which will assist operators in complying with DOT's qualification rule.

"This partnership with Reliant Energy is a significant part of our business model and growth plan," said Armando Caceres, Jr., president of OverNite Software. "Our people and technology, when teamed with the power of the Internet and Reliant Energy's experts, will bring these new products on- line very quickly. This training will help develop a workforce and an industry that is safer, more environmentally responsive, and more cost effective."

For more information, contact John McNerney at (713) 621-5905 or info@mockingbird.com; or David Smith at (713) 207-5076 or david_k_smith@reliantenergy.com.

Reliant Energy owns one of the largest interstate natural gas pipeline networks in the mid-continent U.S., totaling 8,200 miles. The system connects through the Reliant Energy Gas Transmission Co. (REGT) Perryville Hub transfer center in Louisiana. REGT and sister company, Mississippi River Transmission Corp., are affiliates of Reliant Energy. Together, they transport approximately 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually, as well as provide storage and related services.

Reliant Energy (NYSE: REI), based in Houston, Texas, is an international energy services and energy delivery company with $15.3 billion in annual revenue and assets totaling more than $28 billion. The company has a wholesale energy trading and marketing business that ranks among the top five in the U.S. in combined electricity and natural gas volumes and has a presence in most of the major power regions of the U.S.

Reliant Energy also has power generation and wholesale trading and marketing operations in western Europe. The company has more than 26,000 megawatts of power generation in operation in the U.S. and western Europe and has announced acquisitions and development projects that will add nearly 6,000 megawatts. Reliant Energy also has marketing and distribution operations serving nearly four million electricity and natural gas customers in the U.S., significant interests in power distribution operations serving more than 10 million customers in Latin America, and a telecommunications business serving the Houston area.

For more information about Reliant Energy, visit the company's website at www.reliantenergy.com.