NEWS RELEASE FROM:

Angela Griffin, Manager of Marketing and Communications

EnerStar Power Corp

11597 IL Hwy 1

Paris, IL 61944-8447

Telephone 217-463-4145

E-mail: agriffin@enerstar.com

www.enerstar.com

PARIS - EnerStar Electric Cooperative members celebrated the co-op’s 71st year of operation at the co-op’s 70th annual meeting held Saturday, March 21, at Crestwood School in Paris. The co-op’s distribution rates will remain the same, but next year wholesale power could go up 3.5 percent and if Congress passes a new carbon tax electric bills could go up 10 to 30 percent in the future.

            President/CEO Peter E. Kollinger discussed rising energy costs, improvements to reliability, and the co-op’s progress on financial goals and return of capital credit funds to members.

            On energy costs Kollinger said its wholesale power supply cooperative, Wabash Valley Power Association, is aggressively pursuing renewable energy projects and is a leader in landfill gas projects. The power supply co-op serves 27 distribution co-ops like EnerStar and has 10 landfill methane generators, participates in two wind energy projects and buys power from a large dairy that produced power from methane gas. Wabash Valley Power has a diversified power supply portfolio, yet like many Midwest utilities, it is very dependent on coal.

            Kollinger said, “Although Wabash does not anticipate any changes this year in the power cost adjustment, they expect costs to increase about 3.5 percent per year for the next 10 years. Realistically other factors could contribute further increases. The proposed carbon tax being debated by Congress could add 1 cent per kilowatt-hour or it could be higher than 5 cents. It’s an unknown.”

            At the meeting members filled out cards asking Congress to help keep electric bills affordable as they considered climate change legislation and the proposed carbon tax or cap and trade system to control carbon dioxide emissions. Kollinger also urged everyone to go to www.ourenergy.coop to find out more and to e-mail their representatives in Congress.

            Although the co-op was hit by a series of ice storms and flooding in 2008 Kollinger said the outages could have been worse. He said the co-op’s linemen and forestry crews have made real progress on system improvements and right-of-way improvements that have drastically reduced tree related outages.

            The co-op also completed pole testing throughout the entire system and electronic GPS mapping of the system. Two substations built in 1948 have been renovated. A new substation that has been planned for years will be built in the Martinsville area. Kollinger said it would improve system reliability locally and system wide because of new tie lines between substations. With the addition of this substation and tie line all EnerStar substations will be linked helping solve substation overload or transmission outages.

            Kollinger said the co-op would begin installing advanced meter infrastructure (AMI), which allows remote meter reading and power quality monitoring. Approximately 80 percent of the electric co-ops in Illinois and Indiana are using this new “smart grid” technology that provides two-way communication with the meter. The benefits include more than just a meter reading, said Kollinger. “This means enhanced customer service during power outages. We will be able to identify power quality issues such as blinks and voltage levels. And it will improve billing by eliminating estimated readings or misreads and providing a consistent 30-day billing period. We will be able to provide members with detailed daily usage information so they can better understand and manage their usage.”

            Member equity is approaching 35 percent. Kollinger said the goal announced at the 2005 annual meeting was 40 percent. “We are moving in the right direction. And we’ve been able to payback a little more than $2.4 million in capital credits to estates and general refunds. By August 2009, we will again issue a general refund for the years 1961 through 1965, which will amount to about $185,000. Members who qualify for the refund will receive notification in mid-April.”

            EnerStar members also re-elected three board members to three-year terms at the meeting. Re-elected were Thomas DeWitt of Brocton, John Fell of Kansas and Gene Higginbotham of Martinsville. Members also voted to extend the meeting notification requirements in the bylaws. Notice of annual or special member meetings will now be made not less than five nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting. This meeting notification language follows the Illinois General Not for Profit Corporation Act.

            EnerStar Power Corp is a member of Touchstone Energy — an alliance of more than 670 local, consumer-owned electric utilities around the country. EnerStar Power is committed to providing superior service based on four core principles: integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community. The co-op serves more than 5,334 members over 1,520 miles of line in parts of Clark, Coles, Douglas, Edgar and Vermilion counties. For more information visit www.enerstar.com.