NEWS RELEASE

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
May 02, 2003

Lee M. Baatz Assistant. V.P. – Rates
906-632-5170

Edison Sault to Refund $828,000 in Purchased Power Savings

Edison Sault Electric Company announced today that it will refund $828,000 (including $89,000 in interest) to its customers by reducing its Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) factor during the months of May through August 2003. Edison Sault is able to make the refund, as it was able to obtain a portion of its power supply requirements last year at a lower cost than initially projected.

A typical Edison Sault customer using 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity will see a reduction in his or her billing of $3.08 per month. Edison Sault’s electric rates had been frozen for nearly seven years when it began to pass on the purchased power savings to its customers last November, and customers have been seeing small credits on their billings since that time. Edison Sault’s electric rates are currently among the lowest in the State of Michigan, and today’s announcement will make them even lower.

Last year Edison Sault received approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to reimplement its Power Supply Cost Recovery (PSCR) clause. The PSCR clause was reimplemented on May 1, 2002, and it allows Edison Sault to pass through to its customers any increases or decreases in the cost of obtaining power supply. The refund of last year’s purchased power savings is being made pursuant to the Commission’s annual PSCR reconciliation process.

Lee Baatz, Assistant Vice president - Rates of Edison Sault, attributed the reduction to a softening of power costs in the wholesale market (purchases from other utilities). However, Baatz continued that higher costs in the wholesale market are also possible and that this could happen just as quickly as last year’s cost decreases. Many variables enter into wholesale power costs including weather, fuel prices for plants that generate electricity and plant shutdowns (both planned and unplanned).

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Last modified: May 07, 2003