MINNEAPOLIS, January 13, 2000 NRG Energy, Inc., (NRG Energy) a wholly owned, nonregulated subsidiary of Northern States Power Company (NYSE:NSP) and Nordic Power Invest (NPI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Vattenfall AB, Sweden, today announced that they will take direct control of their South American power development activities which were previously conducted through a jointly owned company, Cobee Energy Development LLC (CEDLLC).

Much of the existing CEDLLC staff will become employees of either NRG Energy or NPI, and the companies will continue to use the former CEDLLC offices in Miami, Fla. The move comes in an effort to streamline and focus the companies' South American development efforts.

"Our aim is to increase communication between NRG Energy, NPI and COBEE Bolivia," said Gunnar Vallin, president of NPI. "This action will allow NRG Energy and NPI to utilize the best resources available from both organizations to develop successful generation projects around our regional base of COBEE Bolivia."

David Peterson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of NRG Energy, said NRG Energy and NPI are eager to continue current development efforts in South America, including their involvement in Bolivian projects such as the construction of an 87-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired generating facility at Cochabamba and development efforts for a 300 MW hydropower project in the Miguillas Valley.

NRG Energy is the world's seventh largest independent power producer, specializing in the development, construction, operation, maintenance and ownership of low-cost, environmentally responsible power plants and associated power-marketing activities. With leading generation positions in selected markets in the United States, Europe, the Pacific Rim, and Latin America, NRG Energy is involved in projects representing more than 23,000 MW of generating capacity, including nearly 11,000 MW of fully owned capacity. NRG Energy's operations utilize such diverse fuel sources as natural gas, oil, coal and coal seam methane, biomass, landfill gas, and hydro, as well as refuse derived fuel and geothermal energy.

NPI is handling the oversea investment of Vattenfall AB, one of the largest power utility companies in Northern Europe, with a generating capacity of 18,000 MW. NPI specializes in hydropower generation and is currently involved in investments in primarily Latin America and South East Asia.

Certain information included in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking. Such forward-looking information involves risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of NRG Energy. For more information regarding these risks and uncertainties, review NRG Energy's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information contact:
NRG-Frank Rapley
Director Communications
612/373-8892

NPI-Hans Lundgren
Vice President, Latin America
+46 8 545 16116