Spokane, WA, Nov. 5, 2002 -- Itron Inc. has reached an agreement to provide the City of Ft. Wayne with technology to automate data collection from 75,000 water meters in northeastern Indiana.
ABB Water Meters of Ocala, Florida, has been selected as the lead contractor for the automation project and will provide 65,000 new ABB absolute encoder water meters equipped with Itron automatic meter reading (AMR) modules, as well as project management services, to the City of Ft. Wayne.
United Metering of Herrington Park, N.J., will install 55,000 of the new AMRequipped meters, and the City of Ft. Wayne will install the remaining 10,000 new ABB meters and upgrade an additional 10,000 ABB meters already in the field with Itron AMR technology.
The majority of the meters will be automated over a period of one year. Once the system is deployed, Ft. Wayne meter readers will use vehicles equipped with Itron computers and radio frequency (RF) transceivers to collect meter data accurately and efficiently simply by driving past the metered property, eliminating the need for meter readers to access customer properties.
"We're constantly exploring ways to reduce our costs while improving customer service, and the efficiency gains made possible by Itron technology will enable us to do that," said Ted Rhinehart, Ft. Wayne City Utilities Director. "In addition, the accuracy of the system means we'll virtually eliminate inaccurate readings and estimated bills. We're looking forward to getting started on a very beneficial project for both the city and our customers."
"Ft. Wayne has joined an expanding list of water utilities and municipalities that are addressing key operational and strategic objectives with Itron automation technology," said John Hengesh, vice president and general manager of Itron's Water and Public Power Business Unit.
"We're excited to be working with ABB Water Meters and United Metering on this project and we look forward to being an integral part of Ft. Wayne's future success."
About Itron
Itron is a technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. More than 2,000 utilities worldwide rely on Itron technology to deliver the knowledge they require to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water.
Itron delivers value to its clients by providing industry-leading solutions for meter data collection, energy information management, demand side management and response, load forecasting, analysis and consulting services, transmission and distribution system design and optimization, web-based workforce automation, C&I customer care and residential energy management.
About ABB Water Meters
ABB Water Meters is a water meter supplier, producing over 8 million water meters each year. Ruhrgas Industries (RG) has reached an agreement with ABB to acquire ABB's global water and electricity metering division to create a new global leader in utility metering.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the 4th quarter this year, following customary regulatory approvals, joining a world leader in water and electricity metering with $480 million in revenues and 3,900 employees in 50 countries with RGI's gas meter manufacturing unit to form the largest utility metering company in the U.S. and the world with global metering revenues of over $1 billion.
About United Metering
United Metering, Herrington Park, N.J., is part of United Water, one of the largest water service companies in the U.S. and a provider of water and wastewater services to more than 7.5 million people.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of ONDEO Services, a world leader in water and wastewater management services and part of the Suez Group. For more information, contact: Mima Scarpelli Vice-president, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications (509) 891-3565 [email protected] Itron's website can be found at www.itron.com.
