Changes to Green Energy Index and Smart Grid Infrastructure Index announced

Portland, OR, March 23, 2015 – Clean Edge, Inc. today announced the results of the semi-annual evaluation of the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy Index (NASDAQ: CELS) and the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Smart Grid Infrastructure Index (NASDAQ: QGRD), both of which became effective prior to today’s market open.

The NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index is designed to track the performance of clean-energy companies that are publicly traded in the U.S.

The Index includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, development, distribution, and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, and advanced batteries.

The five major sub-sectors that the index covers are Renewable Electricity Generation; Renewable Fuels; Energy Storage & Conversion; Energy Intelligence; and Advanced Energy-Related Materials.

The securities must also meet other eligibility criteria which include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and price. The NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy Index is re-ranked semi-annually in March and September.

The following five securities, including three clean-energy yieldcos, have been added to the CELS Index: Abengoa Yield (ABY); EMCORE Corporation (EMKR); NextEra Energy Partners (NEP); TerraForm Power (TERP); and Vivint Solar (VSLR).

“Over the past few semi-annual index evaluations, we’ve been adding a growing number of clean-energy yieldcos/REITs to the Green Energy Index,” explains Ron Pernick, founder and managing director, Clean Edge, Inc., and a keynote speaker at GLOBE 2014.

“CELS now contains five yieldcos/REITs which are investing in clean-energy deployment and offering project-related yields. As the clean-energy industry increasingly expands from technology development to mainstream deployment, we believe the inclusion of qualifying yieldcos and REITs enables our index to better reflect today’s dynamic marketplace.”

The Index is the basis for the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (NASDAQ: QCLN), which seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index before fees and expenses.

NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index (QGRD):

No securities were added to the Index for this semi-annual evaluation. As a result of the evaluation, one security has been removed from the Index: American Superconductor (AMSC).

The First Trust NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (NASDAQ:GRID), is an exchange traded fund that seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield, before the Fund’s fees and expenses, of the NASDAQ OMX® Clean Edge® Smart Grid Infrastructure Index.

For more information about the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index and the NASDAQ OMX Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index, including detailed eligibility criteria, click here.