Milan, March 12, 2001 - Edison (Montedison Group) and the Manufacturers' Association of Novara entered into an agreement for the supply of all three major utility services. This contract, which is the first of its kind in Italy, will offer the Association's members a competitive advantage in their purchases of electric power, natural gas and telecommunications by providing them with exclusive discounts that increase steadily as members purchase additional services from Edison.

This agreement is the first large-scale implementation of an arrangement in which a multiutility undertakes to provide simultaneously electric power, natural gas and telecommunications to a group of companies located within the same region.
It comes on the heels of agreements signed with the Manufacturers' Associations of Vicenza and Treviso for the supply of electric power and natural gas, which the Company plans to expand soon to include telecommunications.
This contract between Edison Spa and the Manufacturers' Association of Novara is another example of the innovative approach the two parties have been pursuing since November 1999, when, in a first for Italy, they launched the San Giulio electric power buying consortium.
The San Giulio Consortium has grown to include 65 businesses, more than half of which manufacture mechanical engineering components.
These companies, many of which are located in an industrial district that has become one of the world's largest producers of plumbing fixtures, have almost 4,000 employees and generate combined revenues of about 1.8 trillion lire.
Based on its annual consumption of approximately 270 GWh, the San Giulio Consortium received savings on the order of four billion lire in 2000.

"This multiutility contract," said Gianfredo Comazzi, President of the Manufacturers' Association of Novara, "further expands the broad range of agreements available to our members and will provide them with significant cost savings in their purchases of primary utility services."

Our Company," explained Giulio Del Ninno, Edison's CEO, "has focused on the development of collaborative relationships with organizations such as industrial districts and regional business associations, which it views as instrumental to the success of the strategy it is pursuing to grow its multiutility business.
Our goal is to act as a true multiutility provider for companies that are among the most successful manufacturers and exporters in Italy, offering them reliability, quality supplies, competitive prices and innovative technologies in every segment of the energy market (electric power, natural gas and steam) and in telecommunications-Internet services.
We intend to increase market share and enhance customer loyalty in carefully selected areas of Italy, including the Northeastern part of Piedmont.
With this in mind, we will soon offer agreements similar to the one we concluded with the Manufacturers' Association of Novara to manufacturers' associations in Vercelli, the Valsesia and the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola district."
Details of the agreement between the Manufacturers' Association of Novara and Edison and information regarding its implementation will be presented at two events scheduled for Monday, March 19, at 9:30 AM, at the Association's Borgomanero office, located at 18/b Viale Marazza, and for Tuesday, March 20, at 2:30 PM, at the Association's Novara office, located at 25 Corso Cavallotti.
Marco Fortis, Director of Montedison's Office of Economic Studies and Professor of Industrial Economics at the Cattolica University in Milan, will provide the opening address.
He will review the status of the market for grid-based services in Italy and the opportunities created by deregulation.
He will also provide an in-depth analysis of the operations of the San Giulio consortium in the province of Novara.
Edison Gas Spa will then offer a presentation addressed to companies that in 2000, as required under the Letta Decree, consumed at least 200,000 cubic meters of natural gas on their own or between 50,000 and 200,000 cubic meters as members of the San Giulio Consortium.
Lastly, EdisonTel Spa will explain how all the members of the Manufacturers' Association of Novara can obtain a special discount on its already attractive price plans by choosing EdisonTel over other providers that already have agreements with the Association.
For additional information, please contact:

Manufacturers' Association of Novara, Press Office (Marco Fontana), Tel.: +0321 674641 - Fax: +0321 674674, E-mail: marcofontana@ain.novara.it

Montedison's Press Office, Tel. +02 62705136 - Fax +02 62705268, E-mail ufficiostampa@montedison.it