Idaho Power Selects Plateau Systems for Enterprise-Wide Performance and Talent Management

Plateau Powers Competency-Based Talent Management System for Major Electric Utility

Arlington, Va. • April 10, 2006 - Plateau Systems, a leading provider of software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and talent, today announced that Idaho Power company has selected Plateau Performance Management to assess competencies, measure performance, target training and development, and facilitate career and succession planning across the company's workforce. Leveraging the entire Plateau Performance management suite integrated with Plateau Learning will enable Idaho Power to improve employee development and motivation, as well as provide a consistent approach to performance and talent management across all business units.

"Idaho Power recognizes the value of implementing a consistent and comprehensive approach to talent management," said Luci McDonald, vice president of human resources at Idaho Power. "We are currently identifying job-specific behavioral competencies for all jobs throughout the company and will use Plateau to align learning, performance, career planning and succession planning around these competencies. With Plateau's Performance Management, we will gain a competitive advantage in our ongoing efforts to build and maintain an engaged workforce."

Recently recognized in the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) annual survey for delivering residential and commercial power at rates among the lowest in the nation, Idaho Power provides electric service to nearly 460,000 customers in a 24,000-square mile area in Idaho and eastern Oregon. The company owns and operates 17 hydroelectric power plants, two natural gas-fired plants, is part owner of three coal-fired plants, and is one of the nation's few investor-owned utilities with a predominantly hydroelectric generating base.

Idaho Power will replace its existing performance management system with Plateau Performance Management. The company will initially implement Plateau 360 Multi-Rater and Plateau Goals and Appraisals to support its assessment feedback and performance management process. Idaho Power has also purchased Plateau Goals Alignment to support cascading goals throughout the company, and will use Plateau Succession Planning and Plateau Career Planning and Development to support filling future critical job positions. By integrating Plateau Performance Management with Plateau Learning Management, Idaho Power will be able to measure and improve workforce performance through targeted learning and development.

"In order to more closely align learning, performance, career planning and succession planning around our competencies, Idaho Power needs a flexible, unified talent management solution," said James Kelley, performance management project leader at Idaho Power. "Plateau's system fits well with our strategic goals. In addition to integrating performance with learning, Plateau's software allows us to configure and adapt the system to fit our specific performance management user environment and process, which was a key differentiator for Plateau in our evaluation and selection process."

"Idaho Power is taking a visionary approach to performance and talent management," said Paul Sparta, Plateau chairman and CEO. "By taking a holistic approach to developing, managing, and actualizing talent, the company is establishing itself as a leader and innovator in increasing workforce productivity and business operations performance."

About Plateau: Plateau is a leading provider of adaptable Web-based software for developing, managing and optimizing organizational skills and talent to increase workforce productivity and business operations performance. Plateau's software is being used by some of the world's largest, most successful enterprises, including the American Red Cross, General Electric, Internal Revenue Service, and Wendy's International. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Va. For more information, please visit www.plateau.com.

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