Light S.A. Expands Brazilian Smart Meter Order with Elster to Service a Total of 100,000 Endpoints

ESSEN, Germany and SAO PAULO, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster (NYSE: ELT) announced today that Light S.A. (Light), the second largest utility in Brazil, has chosen  Elster's Garnet and Dracon solutions to expand its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system to an additional 80,000 metering endpoints in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110126/SF35872LOGO-a )

Since the initial successful deployment of Elster solutions for 20,000 metering endpoints in the communities of Tabajaras, Cabritos and Borel in the first half of 2011, Light has placed subsequent orders for an additional 80,000 endpoints, for a total of 100,000 endpoints by the end of 2012.

"The non-technical losses have been high and by investing in technologies such as Elster's Garnet and Dracon, we are preventing these growing attempts at fraud. It is also important to highlight the resulting modernization of our infrastructure, the automation of network  management and the potential benefits to the consumer in terms of final energy price," said Jose Geraldo de Souza Pereira, Superintendent of Light.

Developed and manufactured in Brazil, Elster's Garnet solution allows utilities to deploy up to 12 single-phase electric Smart Meters in one unit, which is typically installed on the top of an electric transformer pole to prevent unauthorized access to the equipment. The Garnet solution has a secure all-weather stainless steel casing and the embedded metering technology has comprehensive self-diagnostic functions that can identify tampering, fraud or irregular operation and can immediately alert the utility. Equipped with radio frequency (RF) mesh communications and networking features, the solution allows for remote measurements and remote connection and disconnection.

Elster's Dracon solution is based on the Garnet concept and provides the same security features, but is designed for individual meter units to enable the collection of energy consumption data in locations such as densely populated urban areas, complex building layouts and underground areas. It includes a wireless RF collector, which enables the capture of meter readings at a range of up to 50 meters. Data can also be collected from up to 10 units simultaneously, adding safety, reliability and agility to metering and data collection.

"We are delighted that the success of Elster's Garnet and Dracon solutions in delivering significant value in some of the most challenging access areas of Rio de Janeiro is now driving an expansion of our important partnership with Light into new communities that will also benefit," said Geraldo Guimaraes, Elster Integrated Solutions' vice president, Latin America.

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 and follow us on Twitter at www.elster.com/twitter.

SOURCE Elster