Premier Alliance Partners With AutoGrid and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for $2.9 Million Department of Energy Project

CHARLOTTE, NC--(Marketwire - Dec 20, 2012) - Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTCQB: PIMO), a strategic advisory, services, and solutions firm focused on providing 360° Intelligence Delivery through our Knowledge Based Expertise ("KBE"), today announced that its Energy and Sustainability Division has partnered with AutoGrid Systems (AutoGrid), a developer of advanced analytics software for the energy industry, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) for a Department of Energy (DOE) project to demonstrate the performance of AutoGrid's Demand Response Optimization and Management System (DROMS) on distributed electrical grids. The project was awarded to AutoGrid and Berkeley Lab by the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

The project objective is to design and demonstrate automated control software that helps manage real-time demand for energy across the electrical grid. The system will allow personalized price and control signals to be sent to millions of customers in extremely short timeframes, incentivizing them to alter their usage depending on grid conditions. This will in turn enable utilities to better manage unpredictable supply and demand thereby making the process of providing power more efficient and cost effective.

"We are very proud to be working with AutoGrid and Berkeley Lab for this extremely important project," said Rob Davis, Senior Vice President of Energy Services for Premier Alliance. "Premier Alliance has been coordinating and implementing Demand Response programs on behalf of California utilities for several years. Our in-depth working knowledge of grid management makes us a valuable asset for this ARPA-E project."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Premier Alliance," said Dr. Amit Narayan, founder & CEO of AutoGrid. "Leveraging their decades of industry experience and exceptional engineering staff to help with the site enablement of high-end commercial and industrial facilities, these facilities can then participate in AutoDR programs being offered by their service providers in a cost-effective manner."

"This is a very exciting project," said Dave Watson, Program Manager at Berkeley Lab. "Demand response is evolving from a tool used by utilities in peak power emergencies to a platform for managing the grid on a daily and hourly basis. We are looking forward to collaborating with Auto Grid and Premier Alliance to make this system a reality."

DROMS is a cloud-based demand management service that employs Big Data analytics, a physics-based model of the grid and information streams from smart meters and other grid assets to accurately predict electricity demand. The near-term forecasts permit utilities, grid operators and large power consumers to securely shift power consumption to meet financial or operational goals. Requiring no additional hardware, DROMS can cut the cost of demand response systems by 90 percent while increasing the "yield" of power from demand response events by 30 percent.

About AutoGrid
Founded in 2011, AutoGrid is dedicated to bringing the power of Big Data, predictive analytics and Internet scale computational techniques to the production and consumption of electricity. Serving utilities of all sizes, grid operators, electricity retailers, ESCO services companies, and end-users, AutoGrid develops and markets services that both help lower costs and improve reliability of the electricity supply chain.

About Premier Alliance Group, Inc.
Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTCQB: PIMO) provides Knowledge Based Expertise ("KBE") through its strategic advisory, services, and solutions delivery capabilities. The firm provides 360° Intelligence Delivery, a holistic approach to meet client objectives, through our Professional Services and Solutions Groups. We currently have two major delivery verticals, Risk/Compliance and Energy, driven by increased energy mandates as well as regulatory requirements across several industries. Our Risk/Compliance capabilities encompass Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Business Performance & Technology as we assist clients with Risk Management, Compliance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organizational Effectiveness, Project Management, and Information Management. Our Energy capabilities position us as a leading provider of energy efficiency and sustainable facilities solutions. This includes the design, engineering and installment of disparate solutions and technologies that enable clients to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. Premier Alliance is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. For more information, visit www.premieralliance.com.

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