ATLANTA, July 10, 2002 -- More than 2,000 community and state-owned electric utilities nationwide can now access cost-effective, online training through the American Public Power Association's new e-learning portal powered by Apogee Interactive Inc.

Introduced at the association's 2002 National Conference, APPA's Web site ( http://www.appanet.org) now contains an e-learning doorway to a "Study-Center" featuring dozens of energy-related and utility-specific courses developed by Apogee. The Study-Center courses are available to APPA members through the portal at a discount.

"Employee training is key to our member utilities' ability to deliver better electric service at lower prices to the communities they serve," said Alan Richardson, president and CEO of APPA. "E-learning provides a channel for accessing training in less time, at less cost and often with greater retention of skills and knowledge," he said.

E-learning is proving its worth in numerous industry sectors across the country and will become a $18 billion industry itself by 2005, according to the International Data Corporation. Most recently, a Merrill Lynch study demonstrated up to a 250% increase in information retention with e-learning.

APPA's e-learning portal is a complement to its comprehensive portfolio of traditional classroom and conference training. "We believe the blended approach is best," said Cindy Magill, APPA Director of Education, a concept that is echoed by leaders throughout the training industry. For example, Thompson Learning just concluded a two-year research project revealing trainees performed real-world tasks 30 percent more accurately and 41 percent faster using a blended curriculum as opposed to single-medium instruction.

"Our students demonstrate up to a 155 percent increase in knowledge upon completion of a Study-Center course," said Bernardine Purcell, Director of Apogee's Study-Center that serves leading utilities across the country. She added that participants especially like the flexible, self-paced nature of e-learning. "We're excited to help APPA launch an e-learning initiative and are confident it will produce measurable results for the member utilities," Purcell said.

Apogee Interactive, Inc. (www.apogee.net) is a full-service provider of online technology solutions and e-learning to the energy industry. The company operates the largest portal for energy-related e-training for utilities (www.study-center.com) in addition to a vast online library of energy efficiency Web content. Apogee also pioneered Web-based peak load management in 1999 and recently operates one of the largest demand response exchanges in the country (www.demx.com).