Worcester, Mass.—October 17, 2000—bulbs.com, a privately held e-commerce light bulb supplier, and Narragansett Electric Company today announced that the companies have partnered to offer Narragansett Electric Company customers Energy Star®; light bulbs at a significant discount. The offer, available to all residential Narragansett Electric Company customers in 38 Rhode Island communities, is for the purchase of six Energy Star®;, long life energy saving light bulbs from Philips for $9.95, reflecting an instant rebate of $30. The retail value of these light bulbs is $39.95. By using the six energy efficient bulbs, customers could save an additional $160 in electricity costs over the expected four-year life of the bulbs.

"This is a great deal for customers. They can save $30.00 on the spot, plus enjoy monthly savings on their electric bill once the bulbs are installed, replacing traditional incandescent lighting," said Lawrence J. Reilly, president and chief executive officer of Narragansett Electric Company. "Additionally, our partnership with bulbs.com allows our customers to participate in this rebate program using the convenience of the Internet."

"Light bulbs and related products represent over a $10 billion industry in North America alone," said Steven Rothschild, president and CEO of bulbs.com. "Companies can spend ridiculous amounts of time finding and ordering a product that meets the fundamental need for light. The Internet is the perfect medium to streamline the ordering process of light bulbs. With help from our investors, bulbs.com is on the path to becoming a leader in this lucrative market."

"We are very pleased that a leading company like Narragansett Electric Company has selected bulbs.com as its e-commerce partner," said Steven Rothschild, chief executive officer of bulbs.com. "By offering this rebate offer online, Narragansett Electric Company customers won’t have to drive to a store, saving even more energy."

Narragansett Electric Company will alert its customers to the special offer in their monthly electric bills throughout autumn. The rebate offer is open to customers served by National Grid USA’s distribution companies: Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric and Nantucket Electric. Interested customers can take advantage of the offer by visiting www.bulbs.com/ngusa or by calling toll-free, 1-866-642-8527. Customers are asked to have their account numbers ready.

About Narragansett Electric Company
The Narragansett Electric Company is an electricity distribution subsidiary of National Grid USA operating in Rhode Island that serves approximately 460,000 customers in 38 cities and towns having a population of approximately 990,000 (1990 Census). The Company's service area covers approximately 99 percent of Rhode Island, and includes the cities of Providence, East Providence, Cranston, and Warwick. Narragansett Electric Company can be found on the Web at http://www.narragansett.com.

About bulbs.com
bulbs.com, headquartered in Worcester, Mass. is the only online light bulb supplier to offer an easy, complete purchasing process with its proprietary eSpec™ searchable database and BulbTrack™ smart reordering technology. The company is located at 40 Jackson Street Suite 2000, Worcester, Mass, 01608, and can be reached by telephone at 508-363-2800 or on the Web at www.bulbs.com.