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And the Winner is…GE’s Grid IQ™ Customer Experience CenterPDF

•  GE Recently Earned Three Industry Awards for Its Grid IQ™ Customer Experience Center—Turning Complex Grid Solutions into an Immersive Experience
•  At the Center, GE Shows Customers Firsthand How Its Solutions Help to Modernize the Grid through a 60-Foot-Wide, Seven-Foot-High Interactive Video Wall
•  GE's Global Innovation Center and Florida Power & Light and ComEd Projects are Latest Examples of GE's Grid Modernization Initiatives

MARKHAM, ONTARIO—August 12, 2013—GE (NYSE: GE) recently won three prestigious audiovisual (AV) awards for its advanced technology at the company’s Grid IQ™ Global Innovation Center in Markham, Ontario. At the centerpiece of the center is a 60-foot-wide, seven-foot-high, 180-degree curved laser phosphor display videowall, designed by Prysm Inc., which allows customers to take an interactive, immersive look at GE’s full suite of grid modernization offerings. This Customer Experience Center is another example of how GE is helping its customers do their part to modernize the grid.

GE was given the 2013 Integration Award for Best Corporate Solution by Commercial Integrator Magazine and TechDecisions Media and also received the inaugural People's Choice Award in the Best Corporate Solution category, which is sponsored by InfoComm International and NewBay Media. Finalists for the People's Choice Award were chosen by a panel of industry experts that included journalists, educators and technical directors. The winners were determined by the votes of attendees at InfoComm 2013.

In addition, recognized as the industry's best professional AV installation in the Corporate category and chosen from entries received in nine categories, GE also was awarded one of the PRO AV Spotlight Awards, which honor installations that demonstrate excellence in technical design, innovation and success in advancing their customers' mission.

"These awards recognize how our state-of-the-art Global Innovation Center in Ontario is allowing customers to experience, in ways that were not possible before, how GE's innovative technologies can solve their complex grid modernization challenges," said Claudio Cargnelli, chief marketing officer for GE's Digital Energy business. "Our Customer Experience Center leverages the latest in AV and interactive digital tools to immerse customers in a virtual power system, helping them identify grid modernization challenges, the impact of those challenges and potential solutions, from the power plant to the power consumer."

The Grid IQ Global Innovation Center is one of many ways GE is working to modernize the grid. For example, earlier this month, GE announced that it has been selected by ComEd, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation and the electric utility serving Northern Illinois, to deliver approximately 4 million smart meters from 2013 to 2021 in a deal worth more than $200 million.

In addition, in April, GE and Florida Power & Light (FPL) announced the completion of Energy Smart Florida (ESF), an initiative implemented to modernize the grid and build out a more reliable and efficient electrical infrastructure. GE helped FPL complete the installation of 4.5 million smart meters across FPL's 35-county service territory nine months ahead of schedule, and successfully complete its grid modernization projects funded by a grant FPL received from the U.S. Department of Energy.

"By leveraging our advanced technologies and end-to-end integrated solutions, our customers are able to prevent power outages and maintain a safe, secure and reliable grid while empowering their customers to take more control over their energy usage," added Cargnelli.

GE's meters at both sites help to enable effective two-way communication between the utilities and their customers. For example, smart meters provide customers with hourly data on their energy usage. Smart meters also will alert the utilities to power outages automatically—without requiring customers to contact the utility—and help pinpoint the problem so the utility can restore power faster.

GE announced the opening of its Grid IQ Global Innovation Center in October 2012. The state-of-the-art, 200,000-square-foot facility was designed to foster innovation and global collaboration to improve the efficiency, reliability and security of the world's electrical grids.

The facility includes 100,000 square feet of production space and will help GE meet both current and future product demands as utilities around the world continue to look for ways to improve their energy infrastructures. To support that growth, the facility also incorporates on-site research and test and simulation laboratories giving GE engineers easy access to the tools needed to help utility and industrial customers solve their toughest energy challenges.

The building includes a technical training center providing both on-site and distance learning offerings for GE employees, partners and customers. GE welcomes utilities to bring in their customers to help educate and engage them about their energy usage and the global electrical grid.

For further information on GE's offerings, the Grid Explorer provides an exciting look at the company's advanced power system solutions, while the Solutions Explorer system explores GE solutions by industry segment.

GE's Digital Energy business is a global leader in transmission and distribution solutions that manage and move power from the power plant to the power consumer. Its products and services increase the reliability of electrical power networks and critical equipment for utility, industrial and large commercial customers. From protecting and optimizing assets such as generators, transmission lines and motors, to delivering analytic tools to help manage the power grid, and providing uninterruptible power, GE's Digital Energy business delivers industry-leading technologies to solve the unique challenges of each customer. For more information, visit https://www.gegridsolutions.com.

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GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

Follow GE Energy Management and its Digital Energy business on Twitter @GE_EnergyMgmt and @YourSmartGrid. Follow GE in the Chicago area on Twitter @GEChicago.

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