Webster Electric Cooperative Replaces Entire Meter Base With Elster EnergyAxis(R) Smart Grid Solution

MARSHFIELD, Mo. and RALEIGH, N.C., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster and Webster Electric Cooperative, a locally owned and governed not-for-profit cooperative in Marshfield, Missouri, announced today that Webster Electric Cooperative has selected the Elster EnergyAxis® AMI Smart Grid solution to replace its existing self-read electric meter base.

Webster Electric Cooperative plans to deploy 18,500 EnergyAxis Smart Meters between July and December 2010. With EnergyAxis, Webster Electric Cooperative will be able to remotely read residential and commercial Smart Meters, eliminating their current method of customer self-reads and estimated billing.

Elster's two-way EnergyAxis communication system will bring Webster Electric Cooperative remote data collection, remote connect and disconnect capabilities, broad improvements to customer service and the ability to detect non-technical electricity losses quickly and efficiently. With EnergyAxis in place, Webster Electric Cooperative also will be able to quickly implement demand response and distribution automation in the future.

"Our partnership with Elster brings us into an important next phase in our customer service and electric distribution capabilities," said Tom Houston, general manager, Webster Electric Cooperative.

"When we decided to modernize our network with Smart Meters and a new communications network, we selected Elster because of EnergyAxis' field-proven technology and the company's extensive experience in the electric industry. This deployment of Elster's EnergyAxis AMI solution will substantially upgrade our billing infrastructure and customer service," Houston added.

Webster Electric Cooperative will deploy EnergyAxis 7.0, which includes expanded local area network (LAN) capabilities for RF-based mesh AMI networks. These LAN capabilities can offer rural areas increased network speed, expanded data handling capabilities, improved network reliability and security.

"As more rural electricity providers look to RF-based mesh AMI network technology than ever before, Webster Electric Cooperative's deployment is a significant step forward for Smart Grid in rural areas around the world," said Mark L. Munday, president and CEO, Elster Solutions, North America. "We look forward to helping Webster Electric Cooperative deliver this next phase in customer service with its new EnergyAxis Smart Meter deployment."

EnergyAxis, a field-proven Smart Grid solution with more than 3.5 million endpoints deployed with utilities across North America, enables utilities to:

• Realize operational efficiencies;
• Conserve environmental and economic resources by reducing the losses in electricity, gas and water grids;
• Reduce outages, and improve outage response and repair time;
• Improve customer service and consumer choice;
• Implement demand response programs that can conserve resources and reduce costs, especially during periods of peak demand;
• Provide real-time information to end consumers to allow them to better manage their energy consumption; and
• Detect and reduce non-technical losses.

About Elster

Elster is one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers. Our 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. Our 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.

Elster was acquired by funds advised by CVC Capital Partners in September 2005.

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

About Webster Electric Cooperative

Webster Electric Cooperative is a locally owned and governed not-for-profit cooperative based in Marshfield, Missouri. It serves over 15,000 member-owners in its seven county service territory. Webster Electric Cooperative is committed to meeting the highest standards of customer satisfaction, and providing its members accountability, integrity, innovation and commitment to community. The focus is local, but as a Touchstone Energy cooperative, it has the national size and scope to meet the needs of any customer. Touchstone Energy is a nationwide marketing alliance of locally owned and operated electric cooperatives that have joined in a common commitment to provide superior and responsive service to residential and business customers.

For more information about Webster Electric Cooperative, please visit http://www.websterec.com.

SOURCE Elster