NEWS RELEASE

WASHINGTON—In collaboration with the state of Mississippi, the Southern Governors’ Association and leading energy companies, the U.S. Department of Labor is sponsoring a Southeast Energy Skilled Trades Summit Aug. 27-28 at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Miss. More than 20 energy company executives and public officials are expected to attend the workforce summit which will be kicked off during the Southern Governors’ Association meeting’s morning session on Aug. 27 titled “The Future of Energy Production in the South and Meeting Workforce Demand.” Nuclear Energy Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Frank L. “Skip” Bowman will be among the industry executives attending.

WHEN:          Monday, Aug. 27, 1 P.M. – 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.

WHERE:       Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino

Biloxi, Miss.

With an estimated 50 percent of the technical workforce in the electric utility industry expected to reach retirement age in the next decade, the summit will explore public/private policy initiatives to meet looming shortages of skilled labor during an expansionary period where the nation will need a multitude of new energy generating and transmission facilities in coming decades.

Participants in the workforce summit are expected to include top executives from some the nation’s leading energy companies including Southern Co., The Shaw Group, Shell Oil Co., Entergy, Colonial Pipeline., Bechtel Power, Constellation and Duke Energy.

To register for this event, please contact DTI Associates, http://www.dtiassociates.com/energysummit/home.cfm or call Leah Marcado at (703) 299-1612.

Please contact Matt Faraci (faraci.matthew@dol.gov) of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Public Affairs at 202-693-4676 with questions regarding this event.

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