(LOUISVILLE, Ky. - (April 15, 2004) Increasing business opportunities for Minority and Women Business Enterprises will be the focus of a joint utility reception between Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) and the Louisville Water Company, to be held today from 5 to 8 p.m. at MSD's main office, located at 700 W. Liberty St.

The reception will allow utility representatives to meet potential vendors and have one-on-one conversations with them. Building relationships with diverse suppliers allows the utilities to develop lasting relationships that increase supplier diversity across the lines of business.

Currently, minority and women-owned businesses supply LG&E with an array of goods and services — fuel for power generation, construction services for distribution and computer equipment for IT — that are mission critical. MSD seeks out minority and women-owned businesses for engineering, professional and construction services to meet the company's established goals of 15% for minority and 6% for women-owned businesses. The Louisville Water Company utilizes minority and women-owned business for distribution construction and grounds and facility maintenance.

"One of the goals behind the joint outreach is to turn business contacts into business contracts," said Victor Staffieri, LG&E Energy, Chairman, CEO and President. "LG&E Energy, MSD, and the Louisville Water Company promote and support minority-owned and women-owned businesses."

MSD Executive Director, Bud Schardein believes this event marks the beginning of an effort among the three utilities to collaborate in their attempts to build business capacity among the minority and women-owned businesses they are utilizing. "By looking for common opportunities among our businesses, we are in a position to leverage those opportunities with the M/WBEs we do business with," said Schardein.

Louisville Water Company President John Huber added, "Our spending must reflect the make-up of our customer base and the community we serve. Creating opportunities for minority spending facilitates economic growth throughout the region."



Members of the E.ON family of companies, LG&E serves 312,000 natural gas and 384,000 electric customers in Louisville, Ky., and 16 surrounding counties, while Lexington, Ky.-based Kentucky Utilities serves 512,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia.