European Electricity Portal Set Up By 11 Utilities

Compiled ByDeborah Austin Eleven leading European utilities have joined to establish Eutilia, an independent electricity portal enabling utilities' e-procurement of supplies. Eutilia will focus on purchases made by catalog, auctions, and information and services related to purchase management. It plans to offer buyers and sellers value-added services, and facilitate procurement cost reduction. Initial activities will center on electricity and water utilities. Yearly purchase volume by the founders -- excluding labor and energy -- is estimated at greater than 30 billion euros (US$27 billion). Eutilia, to be operational this spring, will be headquartered in the Dutch city of Leiden. Founding partners are Scottish Power (UK), Endesa (Spain), EDF (France), RWE (Germany), Enel (Italy), Iberdrola (Spain), Electrabel (Belgium), United Utilities (UK), Vattenfall (Sweden), National Grid Co. (UK), and Nuon (Netherlands).