InvestSource, Inc.: PureSpectrum's Dimmable Electronic Ballast Technologys High Power Factor Rating is Confirmed by Independent Testing

Jul 24, 2008 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- SO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Stocks in the news: PureSpectrum, Inc. (Other OTC:PSPM.PK), Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Arca:RZ), Puget Energy (NYSE:PSD), Southern Company (NYSE: SO)

July 23, 2008 - PureSpectrum, Inc. (Other OTC:PSPM.PK) has confirmed through independent testing that the company's proprietary dimmable ballast technology for Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs rates extremely high in a critical performance area called Power Factor.

Power Factor is a complicated mathematical formula which measures power quality that is currently unfamiliar to most people, but the ramifications of this ratio will soon become a high priority in every household in the United States. A perfect Power Factor rating is 1.0, and PureSpectrum's dimmable CFL ballast technology rated .974 in independent testing performed at a NVLAP-certified facility at the request of multiple prospective licensing partners.

As the incandescent bulb, the primary residential light bulb for more than 100 years, is replaced en masse during the next four years as the 2007 Energy Bill goes into effect, consumers may be surprised to learn that using energy efficient CFL bulbs with low Power Factor could cause household energy bills to rise. While CFL bulbs are considerably more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs draw electricity differently than incandescent bulbs and harmonic distortion created by electronic ballasts in CFL bulbs can result in harmonic distortion.

Harmonic distortion reduces power quality, and this energy imbalance can lead to extensive and expensive corrective actions by utility companies. Furthermore, there has never been a study of the effects of Power Factor on lighting in the U.S., and with a variety of CFL bulbs with varying Power Factor ratings being introduced and installed industry experts are not able to accurately predict the total cost or effect of low Power Factor CFL bulbs.

"There is no reliable data to represent the final impact that Power Factor will have on the fluorescent lighting market, but it will certainly be a competitive advantage for any manufacturer to be able to offer a CFL product with high Power Factor," said PureSpectrum president and CEO Lee Vanatta. "We recognize that Power Factor is going to be tremendously important part of the equation for the lighting industry as lighting manufacturers and utility companies begin to digest the scope of the transition that is about to occur. Our research has made us aware the widespread use of low Power Factor CFL bulbs during the next few years will damage power quality and result in expensive corrective procedures for the utility companies and that expense will be passed on to the consumer.

"We have seen one study that estimated the cost of power factor correction to be as much as $4 for every 20-watt CFL that is installed," Vanatta added.

Most brand name CFL bulbs currently on the market in the U.S. have low or poor Power Factor ratings, and recent research has concluded that the mass introduction of low power factor CFL bulbs would result in a costly degradation of power quality. That cost will ultimately be passed along to the consumer by the utility companies through the introduction of new meters which measure not only usage but also power factor.

In non-residential settings where fluorescent lights have long been the standard, utility companies already assess customers for power factor correction. Lighting industry experts expect a similar power factor correction penalty to be added to residential energy bills in the future to offset the "dirty" or unproductive power created by the influx of millions of low Power Factor CFL bulbs.

Through exhaustive market research during the development of its technology, PureSpectrum identified performance areas for CFL bulbs which would need to be addressed by manufacturers in order to accelerate the widespread consumer adoption of CFL bulbs. Additionally, according to Vanatta, the company's advance technology engineered ballast technology that would also address inevitable criticisms such as low power factor.

"From inception, PureSpectrum has consistently stated that we are developing lighting technology to satisfy the needs of both manufacturers and end users, and the integration of our ballast into a CFL product line would enable manufacturers to increase consumer satisfaction," Vanatta said. "We understand that the lighting industry will be experiencing substantial upheaval during the next few years, and we also see the big picture for lighting manufacturers trying to satisfy the demand for more energy efficiency while also satisfying customers. Our ballast circuitry represents an immediate solution that addresses all of the foreseeable problems associated with switching out billions of light bulbs at one time."

July 23, 2008 - -Raser Technologies, Inc. (NYSE Arca:RZ) announced today that it has released the Company's 8th edition of its online video report called Up to Speed, which can be viewed at: http://rasertech.com/uptospeed.

Up to Speed -Volume 8 was released today on Raser's website and is the latest in a series of video reports from Raser's CEO and top management that updates shareholders, customers and interested stakeholders about the Company's progress on its corporate initiatives and strategic business plan. In this edition Raser CEO Brent M. Cook provides an informative overview of the construction of Raser's first geothermal power plant and other geothermal project developments along with a discussion of other informative topics.

James Spellman, Raser's Vice President of Business Development, also discussed the progress of Wilson Auto Electric toward manufacturing Symetron enhanced heavy duty alternators and Raser's PHEV project, including a video preview of the recently announced demonstration E-REV fleet truck Raser intends to develop.

In connection with the Up to Speed video, Raser announced that it has been short-listed on its bid to sell geothermal power to a major California utility. The California utility has accepted Raser's offer to sell baseload geothermal renewable energy at a price in excess of $100 per megawatt hour with a 1% annual increase over a 20 year term.

Additionally, Raser announced that the UTC Power geothermal generating unit sent to a third party greenhouse operation adjacent to the Lightning Dock project in New Mexico has been commissioned and is operating on site.

July 23, 2008 - Puget Sound Energy (PSE), utility subsidiary of Puget Energy (NYSE:PSD), Puget Holdings LLC (Puget Holdings), a consortium of long-term infrastructure investors, staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), the Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities, Northwest Industrial Gas Users (NWIGU), the Energy Project, the Northwest Energy Coalition, and The Kroger Company filed a settlement stipulation with the UTC outlining the terms of their settlement agreement in the merger case being reviewed by the UTC.

As part of their filing on Dec. 17, 2007, PSE and Puget Holdings made an initial set of 34 commitments to assure that the merger satisfied the public interest standard for approval. On June 18, 2008, the interested parties filed their response testimonies and raised issues they believed needed to be addressed by PSE and Puget Holdings. After carefully reviewing the matters raised by the parties, PSE and Puget Holdings made an additional 27 commitments to respond to these concerns in their rebuttal filed on July 2, 2008. The parties to the proceeding subsequently met over several days to discuss the specifics of the transaction and the concerns raised by the various parties.

As part of the settlement stipulation, the parties have requested that the UTC suspend the current procedural schedule and set a pre-hearing conference as soon as possible to determine a procedural schedule for hearing on the settlement and the other evidence in the case.

The settling parties will jointly seek commission approval of the merger application as outlined in the settlement stipulation.

July 23, 2008 - Southern Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Association of Counties and Wildlife Habitat Council announced today that 10 new wetland, riparian and coastal conservation grants have been awarded in the Southeast through the Five Star Restoration Program.

This year, Southern Company provided $246,000 in grants and, combined with partner matching funds, a total of nearly $532,000 will benefit projects in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi. Since 2006, Southern Company has contributed $621,000 through 33 grants, resulting in an on-the-ground conservation impact of $1.89 million.

The Five Star Restoration Program is a national initiative providing financial and technical support to wetland, riparian and coastal habitat restoration projects. It brings together citizen groups, corporations, students, landowners, youth conservations corps, and local, state and federal government agencies to build diverse partnerships and foster local natural resource stewardship through education, outreach and training activities. In 2006, Southern Company pledged $1.2 million over five years to fund community-based, wetland and streamside restoration across its four-state service territory. Additionally, Southern Company collaborates with the program partners to select the projects each year and distribute funds to grantees.

Market Wrap for July 23, 2008 -

The stock market settled with a modest gain of 0.4% in volatile and heavy trade.

Defensive investments, such as the utilities sector (-2.3%), underperformed.

Consumer discretionary stocks rose 2.0%, with homebuilders climbing 4.0%. Automakers rose 3% after General Motors (GM 14.60, +0.28) forecast a 2.5% increase in global 2008 auto sales. Retailers advanced (+2.4%).

Oil prices fell 3.1% to $124.48 per barrel, marking its lowest level in more than six weeks.

The drop in oil prices weighed heavily on the energy sector (-3.8%), but provided a huge lift to airline stocks (+8.5%).

Commodities as a whole fell 1.7%, with gold shedding 3.1% as the dollar rose 0.5%. As a result, the materials sector (-1.7%) underperformed.

The financial sector managed to rally to as high as +4.6% gain on news that the House of Representatives had agreed to vote on the bill to aid Fannie Mae (FNM 15.00, +1.59) and Freddie Mac (FRE 10.80, +1.10). Financials settled the day with a gain of 1.9%. The financial sector is up 34% since July 15, but is still down 23% this year.

The Fed's Beige Book stated that the economy has "slowed somewhat" since the previous report, and that there were increased price pressures. In addition, consumer spending was "mixed, weak or slowing" in nearly all districts.DJ30 +29.88 NASDAQ +21.92 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +0.3% SP400 +0.1% SP500 +5.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1615/2.73 bln/1224 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1973/1.72 bln/1191

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This release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained in an InvestSource profile is provided as an information service only. The accuracy or completeness of the information is not warranted and is only as reliable as the sources from which it was obtained. InvestSource has agreed to be compensated 58,600 of free trading shares of PSPM for services rendered.

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