[img:David.thumbnail.gif|David Robinson,
Senior Adviser,
Brattle Group]Brussels, Belgium --- (METERING.COM) --- May 16, 2008  - Electricity and gas suppliers in most retail markets have a clear profit incentive to promote increased consumption of energy, but with the right incentives these companies would be able and willing to promote efficient energy use and conservation.

[img:Mavela.thumbnail.jpg|Mavela Dlamini,
City Manager]Johannesburg, South Africa --- (METERING.COM) --- May 16, 2008 – A Johannesburg High Court judge ruled last week that the deployment of prepayment (pay-as-you-go) meters in a low-income neighborhood was unconstitutional and discriminatory, but the City of Johannesburg has elected to appeal the ruling.

The City has studied the ruling with its legal team, and believes it could be successful in having the verdict overturned. The pay-as-you-go project began in 2001, when the City introduced the water meters and at the same time embarked on a program to identify and prevent leaks, replace leaky taps and so on, which it estimates has saved some 7 billion liters a month. Since 2001 unaccounted-for water losses have been reduced from 40 percent to 32 percent in 2007.

Residents have opposed the pay-as-you-go meters, on the grounds that the allocation of free water was not sufficient and that they were being discriminated against by having to pay for additional water in advance, when most other areas in Johannesburg were supplied with credit meters.

The City has halted further deployment of the meters pending the result of the appeal, which will be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal. Thus far some 80,000 meters have been installed in the area.

[img:BGE.thumbnail.jpg| ]Baltimore, MD, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 16, 2008 – Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE), a subsidiary of Constellation Energy, has selected Oracle® Utilities Meter Data Management to leverage state-of-the-art, enterprise-level software as part of the utility’s pilot of an advanced metering initiative to enhance customer service and encourage energy efficiency.

[img:KellyDick.thumbnail.jpg|Dick Kelly,
Chairman, President
& CEO, Xcel Energy]Denver, CO, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 16, 2008 – Xcel Energy has announced that the design phase is complete, equipment is ordered and construction has started on its SmartGridCity project.

In April, Xcel Energy and its Smart Grid Consortium partners completed their study of Boulder, CO’s electricity infrastructure, and developed a scope and design plan for implementing the changes. The company then placed equipment orders, including an order for 15,000 smart meters. In May, the company began implementation of the smart grid network and construction on the SmartGridCity Control and Operations Center.

[img:wetston_howard.thumbnail.jpg| ]The Honorable Howard I. Wetston Q.C. has been reappointed as Chair and Chief Executive of the Ontario Energy Board for a second five-year term, effective June 30, 2008. The Ontario Energy Board regulates the province's electricity and natural gas sectors in the public interest.

Immediately prior to his initial appointment to the Board, Mr. Wetston served as Vice-Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission. From 1993 to 1999 he served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and ex-officio member of the Federal Court of Canada, Appeal Division. From October 1989 to June 1993, he was the Director of Investigation and Research (DIR) (now Commissioner of Competition), Bureau of Competition Policy and from October 1986, he served as Senior Deputy DIR where he was accountable for the overall direction and management of mergers and acquisitions.

[img:Tom%20Standish.thumbnail.jpg|Tom Standish,
Group President for
Regulated Operations,
CenterPoint Energy]Houston, TX, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 15, 2008 – CenterPoint Energy, Inc.’s electric transmission and distribution utility has signed an agreement with Itron Inc. for deployment of OpenWay® advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) technology in the Houston area. Subject to regulatory approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), CenterPoint Energy’s deployment plans call for initial installation of OpenWay network communication infrastructure and electricity meters to meet the advanced metering and data collection needs of retail electric providers (REPs) operating in CenterPoint Energy’s service territory. The contract provides for the purchase of up to 2 million meters if CNP ultimately moves to a full deployment across its electric service territory.

[img:Van-der-Meys_0.jpg|Ad van der Meys,
Executive Vice
President, EMEA]Zug, Switzerland --- (METERING.COM) --- May 15, 2008 – Landis+Gyr, a provider of energy management solutions, is combining its UK and prepayment and European businesses to help it to continue to meet its customers’ ‘smart’ energy needs. The new Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region will be led by the former COO of BT Global Services in Germany, Ad van der Meys.

[img:Three_0.gif| ]Hatfield, U.K. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 15, 2008 – Three Valleys Water, a utility serving 3.2 million customers in the Home Counties and the north and west of London, U.K., has produced its draft water resources management plan for the years 2010-2035, which includes the introduction of compulsory metering.

New housing developments, increased population, uncertainties of weather patterns and climate change are all factors affecting the future supply of water in the South East of England, which last year was designated as an area of ‘serious water stress’ by the Environment Agency. These and other issues were taken into account by Three Valleys Water in producing its plan, which sets out how the company will balance the supply of and demand for water over the next 25 years.

[img:Enspiria%20Solutions_0.jpg| ]Denver, CO, U.S.A. --- (METRING.COM) --- May 15, 2008 – Enspiria® Solutions, a provider of consulting and systems integration services to the utility, cable and government sectors, is pleased to announce that Faye Hall, a Senior Software Engineer, has received the FME® Certified Professional accreditation for achieving high technical standards with FME and demonstrating a proven track record of high quality service.   

[img:Kalkitech.thumbnail.jpg| ]Bangalore, India --- (METERING.COM) --- May 15, 2008 – Kalkitech has announced the release of three new products which are aimed at improving energy industry efficiency.

The first is the DLMS OPC Server with DA 3.0 dupport with multi-channel and multi-device capabilities. The product is conformant to the latest version of OPC (V3.0).

The OPC Server supports the COSEM/HDLC profile for serial/optical channels (with Mode E switchover included), HDLC parameter negotiation, multi-mode addressing, two authentication levels, logical and short name referencing, LN and SN services, block transfer and selective access and more.

[img:Cowlitz.gif| ]Longview, WA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 14, 2008 – Cowlitz County Public Utility District (Cowlitz PUD) will fully implement the Cannon power line carrier (PLC) advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution from Cooper Power Systems which, once complete, will involve nearly 48,000 meters representing the first large-scale deployment of the Cannon AMI solution in Washington state.

[img:kyle_0.jpg|Kyle Kuntz, CEO,
Sam Houston
Electric Coop.]Livingston, TX, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 14, 2008 – Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, a member-owned electricity provider, is implementing the Oracle® Utilities application suite – including Oracle Utilities Network Management System, Oracle Utilities Mobile Workforce Management, Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Oracle Utilities Work and Asset Management – to help improve operational efficiency and control costs for its members.

[img:elster%20logo_0.jpg| ]Ocala, FL, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- May 14, 2008 – Elster AMCO Water, Inc., part of Elster Group, a provider of advanced metering infrastructure, integrated metering and utilization solutions to the gas, electricity and water industries, has announces the upcoming launch of the evoQ4 mag meter – the latest addition to the evolution™ line of innovative, solution-driven products developed for the water utility industry by Elster AMCO Water.

[img:OSII.gif| ]Nader Farah has joined Open Systems International Inc. (OSI), a provider of open and high-performance automation solutions to utilities worldwide, as managing director of international operations.

Formerly an executive at KEMA, Farah will lead the overall strategy for OSI’s business operations in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Asia-Pacific region. He will be responsible for directing OSI’s international strategy and business development, risk management, revenue growth, partnership establishment, services delivery and profit and loss accountability, among other activities.

[img:Energate.thumbnail.gif| ]Ottawa, Canada --- (METERING.COM) --- May 14, 2008) — Energate Inc. has announced that Trilliant Incorporated, a provider of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) based on open standards, has been working with Energate and its smart thermostat on a number of demand response (DR) pilots that focus on the needs of both the utilities and consumers. In particular, Energate and Trilliant, in cooperation with other DR partners, have launched a unique 2008 pilot with E.ON US to measure how consumer-centric DR solutions can have a positive effect on energy usage.

This represents a pioneering use of two-way RF mesh network communications combined with next generation in-home energy management technology, supporting both metering and DR on the same platform.

“In developing their smart thermostats, the Energate team has taken consumers into account, providing features and information that empower them to manage their energy use more effectively. This approach is incredibly valuable for driving high customer satisfaction,” said Geoff Williamson, Chief Marketing Officer at Trilliant. “From a technical perspective, their heritage and expertise provide peace of mind to both Trilliant and our customers.”