BATON ROUGE, La., Apr 20, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) officially celebrated the expansion of its Charlotte location today with a ribbon cutting ceremony held at Shaw’s office at 128 S. Tryon Street in downtown Charlotte. The event was attended by Shaw’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, J.M. Bernhard, Jr. who greeted government, civic and business leaders from across North Carolina including Governor Mike Easley, Mayor Pat McCrory and other state and local officials and business leaders.

Shaw is expanding its Charlotte office to meet growing energy industry demands, especially the needs of power generating utilities. The company is a recognized leader in the energy sector, particularly in providing flue gas desulphurization (FGD-scrubber) services that assist utilities in meeting clean air emissions requirements. Shaw is currently performing FGD engineering and construction services for Duke Energy, as well as other major utilities. Shaw anticipates there will be significant additional scrubber work needed by coal-fired generating plants, as well as possible grassroots coal-fired power plant projects which could be managed from its expanded Charlotte office.

Mr. Bernhard commented, “We are very pleased to expand our Charlotte operations and to further strengthen our commitment to the State of North Carolina. Charlotte is a tremendous place to do business and is great strategic fit for our company. Due to the improving energy market, we expect to double the size of our Charlotte office employee base to support our current work, as well as emerging opportunities. Charlotte offers a deep pool of engineering and design talent and our expansion will mean an additional 200 high-level employment positions over the next year.”

Governor Easley said, “Shaw’s decision to expand its presence here in North Carolina shows that we are making the right investments in the right places at the right time. Our strong emphasis on education and workforce development ensures that companies such as Shaw can continue to grow here and that our state remains highly competitive in the new global economy.”

Shaw currently employs over 1,200 people in the Charlotte area and will lease nearly 48,000 square feet of office space in their expanded office space. Shaw expects to hire 200 additional engineers by June 2005. The Charlotte location will primarily house the company’s project controls and design group within its energy division.

The office also serves as headquarters for Shaw Energy Delivery Services, the company’s power transmission and distribution unit which was acquired from Duke Energy in late 2003 to complement Shaw’s existing portfolio of energy services. The Company also manages a major design project for the Department of Energy (DOE) through the Charlotte location. Shaw is doing design work on the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility to be built at the DOE’s Savannah River site. The MOX facility will be used for the conversion of weapons-grade plutonium to fuel-grade nuclear material to be used in commercial nuclear power plants. The project is being performed through a consortium with Duke Project Services and COGEMA Inc.

The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology, engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation, and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. With over $3 billion in revenues, Shaw is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and employs approximately 19,500 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.shawgrp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements – The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company’s current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company’s reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company’s website under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements”. These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.

SOURCE: The Shaw Group, Inc.

The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge
Chris D. Sammons
225-932-2546