interruptions or declines will not occur. Any prolonged inter- ruption or decline in the amount of gas delivered to E.ON Ruhrgas under its contracts with Gazprom, its subsidiaries or any other party would result in E.ON Ruhrgas having to use its storage reserves to make up the shortfall with respect to amounts it is contracted to deliver to customers and could have a material adverse effect on E.ON's results of operations and financial condition. The demand for electric power and natural gas is seasonal, with our operations generally experiencing higher demand during the cold weather months of October through March and lower demand during the warm weather months of April through September. The exception to this is our U.S. power business, where hot weather results in an increased demand for electricity to run air conditioning units. As a result of these seasonal patterns, our sales and results of operations are higher in the first and fourth quarters and lower in the second and third quarters, with the U.S. power business having its highest revenues in the third quarter and secondary peaks in the first and fourth quarters. Rev- enues and results of operations for all of our energy opera- tions can be negatively affected by periods of unseasonably warm weather during the autumn and winter months, as occurred at some of our market units in 2006 and/or 2007. Our Nordic market unit could be negatively affected by a lack of precipitation (which would lead to a decline in hydro- electric generation, as occurred in 2006), and our European energy operations could also be negatively affected by a summer with higher-than-average temperatures to the extent our plants would be required to reduce or shut down operations due to a reduction in the availability of cooling water. We expect seasonal and weather-related fluctuations in sales and results of operations to continue. IT Risks The operational and strategic management of the E.ON Group relies heavily on complex information technology. Our IT systems are maintained and optimized by qualified E.ON Group experts, outside experts, and a wide range of techno- logical security measures. In addition, the E.ON Group has in place a range of technological and organizational measures to counter the risk of unauthorized access to data, the mis- use of data, and data loss. Management's Evaluation of the Risk Situation During the year under review, the E.ON Group's risk situation did not change substantially from the prior year. From today's perspective, we do not perceive any risks in the future that would threaten the existence of the E.ON Group or individual market units. 67To Our Shareholders Supervisory Board Year in Review Combined Group Management Report Additional Information Market Units Corporate Governance Consolidated Financial Statements Tables and Explanations