Vertex Business Services Signs Five-Year Contract Extension With Pacific Northern Gas Ltd

-Extends 1998 partnership through 2013-

VERTEX BUSINESS SERVICES, the leader in Customer Management Services for Utilities in North America, today announced the signing of a five-year contract extension with Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. It is the first contract extension for this successful outsourcing partnership which began in 1998 and continues through 2013.

Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. (PNG) delivers natural gas to customers in west-central British Columbia and through its subsidiary Pacific Northern Gas (N.E.) Ltd., to customers in the province’s northeast. PNG strives to be a customer-focused, market-driven company which provides service of superior value to its 40,000 customers in British Columbia.

Vertex provides PNG with hosting and application management services utilizing its Enlogix customer billing system. Vertex also provides remittance processing and bill print services.

“PNG is very pleased to sign a long term renewal to extend our relationship with Vertex,” said Roy Dyce, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Northern Gas. “Vertex has demonstrated that they are a cost effective and operationally reliable partner. The Enlogix CIS product roadmap will effectively meet our business and customer service needs for many years to come. We look forward to our ongoing partnership with Vertex.”

“We’re thrilled that Pacific Northern Gas has chosen to continue to partner with Vertex for such critical business functions,” said Richard Charles, Head of Vertex’s Client Services organization. “Over the past ten years, Vertex has developed an in-depth understanding of PNG’s service requirements and business objectives. We look forward to building on that experience to deliver exceptional services to PNG and their customers.”

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About Pacific Northern Gas (TSX: PNG)

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. owns and operates natural gas transmission and distribution systems. The Company’s western transmission line extends from the Spectra Energy (formerly Duke Energy) gas transmission system north of Prince George to tidewater at Kitimat and Prince Rupert, and provides service to 12 communities and a number of industrial facilities. In the northeast, Pacific Northern’s subsidiary Pacific Northern Gas (N.E.) Ltd. Provides gas distribution service in the Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Tumbler Ridge areas. Further information is available on the Company’s website at: www.png.ca.

About Vertex Business Services

Vertex Business Services is the leader in Customer Management Services for Utilities in North America. Founded in 1996 as a subsidiary of British utilities provider, United Utilities, Plc., Vertex was purchased by a consortium of three leading US investment firms to become a privately held company in 2007. We have grown organically and through acquisition in North America to offer transformational business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology (IT) services to the Utilities sector.

In July 2008, Vertex acquired Alliance Data’s Utilities Services division. Today Vertex employs nearly 9,000 people in North America, the United Kingdom, and India. In the Utilities sector within North America, we have over 2,500 dedicated professionals, 18 Centers of Excellence, and more than 70 electric, gas and water clients. For more information, visit www.vertexoutsourcing.com.

Media Inquiries to:

US

Diane Webb, Vertex Business Services Marketing Director

(T) 214-274-4680

(E) Diane.Webb {at} Vertexna(.)com

UK

Anna Campopiano, Vertex Public Relations

(T) 0845 051 8467

(M) 07827 886991

(E) anna.campopiano {at} vertex.co(.)uk