Vaasa, Finland --- (METERING.COM) --- May 6, 2008 – Vaasan Sähköverkko Oy, the Finnish utility, has invested in a Landis+Gyr system to automatically read, control and manage all 60,000 of its customer metering points. This project is one of the largest advanced metering management (AMM) turnkey implementations ever undertaken in Finland, the country at the forefront of European smart meter deployment. A recent study conducted by VTT found that approximately one half of Finland’s electricity meters will be read remotely by 2010.

With significant technological progress and firm backing from governments and influencers, smart metering provides utilities with the data required to manage energy use, efficiency, demand response and revenue protection. Their customers benefit from lower energy costs, and, crucially, a reduced carbon footprint.  

The investment will allow Vaasan Sähköverkko to revolutionize its energy and cost-efficiency and service offers through process re-engineering that forms an integral part of the AMM solution. The system provides, for example, real-time energy consumption information, making billing clearer and enabling residents to track their own energy use.

Before making the decision to invest, Vaasan Sähköverkko carried out an in-depth analysis of the advantages of AMM and tested several suppliers' hardware and systems.

Vaasan Sähköverkko Oy CEO, Juha Rintamäki, explains: “We decided to work with Landis+Gyr because their technology provides the required functionality with the most affordable overall outlay throughout the remote reading system’s entire lifetime.

“Switching to a wide-reaching automatic reading of electricity meters is not only profitable, but also a strategic investment that gives us the future benefits of metering information. Switching the meters en masse right now is the result of the old meters' technical lifetime’s expiry. Automatic reading improves our customers’ electricity billing in both transparency and clarity. Real-time consumption information enables our customers to track their own energy consumption and energy savings.”

Landis+Gyr will be responsible for all implementation, including hardware installation, AMM system implementation, training, and the integration of customer data and energy data management control systems. The AMM system, guaranteeing the best possible coverage and cost-effectiveness, is based on a combination of GPRS and low voltage network communication. Installation is made easier by the Site Manager application, with which data can be entered directly into the system while installation and service work is being performed on site. The system is to be fully operational within two years.