ESSEN, Germany, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster (NYSE: ELT) announced today the appointment of Geraldo Guimaraes Jr. to lead Elster Integrated Solutions (EIS) Latin America.

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A native of Brazil, Mr. Guimaraes joins Elster from Silver Spring Networks, where he was the director of business development for Brazil. Prior to joining Silver Spring Networks, he served as executive director of Latin America for BPL Global, a Smart Grid technology company. He started his career at CELPA S/A, a power utility from the REDE ENERGIA group, where he worked for 17 years in several positions, including director of technology.

Mr. Guimaraes will be based at Elster's new Latin American headquarters office in Sao Paulo and will utilize his extensive Smart Grid, power distribution and software application experience to direct Elster's integrated efforts to deliver Smart Metering and Smart Grid solutions which meet the specific needs of Latin American utilities across gas, electricity and water.

"Bringing together the best of Elster's solutions, products and services effectively enables us to develop and implement customer-oriented, tailor-made and efficient Smart Grid solutions," said Frank Hyldmar, executive vice president, Elster Electricity International.

"Geraldo's industry relationships and comprehensive knowledge of technical and customer needs provides an outstanding platform to drive Elster's success in Latin America," Hyldmar added.

From its new office in Sao Paulo, Elster will develop and deliver integrated Smart Metering and Smart Grid solutions for the Latin American market which can support a wide range of deployment sizes. Elster's Latin American team will build on and include the expertise of colleagues in North America and Europe.  

"Utilities across Brazil and Latin America are actively modernizing their utility infrastructure and electric grids to support growing populations and dynamic economies. I have joined Elster because I believe Elster's intelligent Smart Metering and Smart Grid solutions are exceptionally positioned to deliver value to utilities and customers across the region," Guimaraes said.

Elster's advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), Smart Metering and Smart Grid solutions can increase energy efficiency, conserve resources, empower consumers and enhance distribution to customers currently without electric service.

About Elster

Elster (NYSE: ELT) is one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers. Its offerings include distribution monitoring and control, advanced smart metering, demand response, networking and software solutions, and numerous related communications and services – key components for enabling consumer choice, operational efficiency and conservation. Its products and solutions are widely used by utilities in the traditional and emerging Smart Grid markets.

Elster has one of the most extensive installed revenue measurement bases in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the course of the last 10 years. It sells its products and services in more than 130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications for residential, commercial and industrial, and transmission and distribution applications.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

SOURCE Elster