Premier Alliance Selected Partners With AutoGrid and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for $1.2 Million California Energy Commission Project Grant

CHARLOTTE, NC--(Marketwire - Jan 7, 2013) - 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 been selected by AutoGrid Systems (AutoGrid), a developer of advanced analytics software for the energy industry, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to provide engineering support for a California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded grant to demonstrate a system for demand response optimization and management at two large industrial sites throughout California. The grant was awarded to AutoGrid and Berkeley Lab in conjunction with UC Berkeley and Stanford University.

The project will demonstrate how two Sunnyvale, California based industrial facilities are particularly well positioned to benefit from AutoGrid's Demand Response Optimization and Management System (DROMS) and in so doing will realize substantial financial gains while providing benefits to California ratepayers through reduced power demand on the electric grid. The project will also demonstrate how such facilities can participate in not only the traditional DR programs targeted at reducing the peak demand, but also the new and emerging DR programs designed to provide fast responding ancillary services to the grid to support large scale integration of renewable generation.

"This is another great opportunity for Premier Alliance to showcase our industry expertise and exceptional engineering staff," said Rob Davis, Senior Vice President of Energy Services for Premier Alliance. "We have extensive experience developing and customizing Demand Response related software and hardware to meet a variety of commercial and industrial energy management needs, so we are very excited to have been selected by AutoGrid and Berkeley Lab for yet another cutting edge project."

"Large industrial users could curb their power bills if they could dynamically control their power consumption, particularly during peak periods," said Dr. Amit Narayan, founder and CEO. "Big Data analytics and software-based controls will help them manage demand automatically and ultimately turn software into the cheapest, cleanest source of power."

"The successful completion of this project has far reaching implications," said Dave Watson, Program Manager at Berkeley Lab. "Not only will it provide much needed jobs and revenue within the state of California but it will also introduce an innovative technology that will drastically reduce the cost of real time Demand Response management and pave the way for smoothly integrating distributed generation capacity into the grid."

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, Energy and Risk/Compliance, driven by increased energy mandates as well as regulatory requirements across several industries. Our Energy capabilities position us as a leading provider of energy efficiency and sustainable facilities solutions. This includes designing, engineering and installing disparate solutions and technologies that enable clients to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. Our Risk/Compliance capabilities encompass Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Business Performance & Technology as we assist clients with Risk Management, Compliance, Organizational Effectiveness, Project Management, and Information Management. Premier Alliance is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. For more information, visit www.premieralliance.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain information contained in this press release may be forward-looking. Actual results might differ materially from any forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of Premier Alliance Group to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms "believes," "belief," "expects," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking.