MILWAUKEE, Wis., Oct. 9, 2001 — Badger Meter, Inc. today announced it has been selected to continue providing water meters equipped with its Recordall® Transmitter Register (RTR®) to the city of Houston, Texas, for a large automatic meter reading (AMR) project.
Under the second phase of a multi-year program begun in 1999, Badger Meter has been awarded a contract for approximately $12.5 million in additional meters and RTRs. Shipments are expected to begin late in the fourth quarter of 2001, with the project slated for completion in the summer of 2003.
The Badger Meter water meters and RTR digital encoders are being used in conjunction with radio-based water meter modules provided by Itron, Inc. In July 1998, Itron was selected to provide approximately 400,000 of its ERT® modules for Houston's automatic meter reading program. In May 1999, Badger Meter received a contract for $8.4 million in meters for the first phase of the project.
"We are very pleased that Houston has selected Badger Meter for the second phase of its AMR program, and that we will continue working with Itron. With this award, we have nearly 1.4 million meters installed or under contract in conjunction with Itron AMR projects," said James L. Forbes, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Badger Meter.
According to Karen Philippi, assistant director-utility customer service, Department of Public Works and Engineering for the City of Houston, "We are once again delighted that the Houston City Council approved the award of the meter purchase contract to Badger. The project to date has been very successful. The product performs well, and the service has been excellent. On a project as large and complex as this one, good customer service is critical. Badger has been very responsive and we look forward to continued outstanding performance by both Badger and Itron."
"Working together over the past three years, the City of Houston, Badger Meter and Itron have successfully implemented a large-scale water meter automation system that serves as a model for water utilities and municipalities nationwide," said John Hengesh, vice president and general manager of Itron's water and public power business unit. "The City of Houston's decision to expand this project significantly is a testimonial to the strong return on investment AMR technology has delivered thus far to the city and its residents. We look forward to continuing this partnership with the City of Houston and Badger Meter to extend the benefits of Itron's industry- AMR technology to residents throughout the Houston area."
Forbes added, "Cities throughout the country are basing their selection of Badger Meter products in part on our advanced digital encoder register, the RTR. The RTR provides digital communication to a variety of meter reading technologies. Installations in Houston have demonstrated our product's accuracy and durability even in underground pit installations. As an added benefit, the AMR system enables the city to bill in a more timely manner, thereby improving cash flow."
Itron Inc. is a technology provider and source of knowledge to the energy and water industry for collecting, analyzing, and applying critical data about electric, gas, and water usage. Itron technology touches more than $200 billion in energy and water transactions annually. Today, Itron systems are installed at approximately 2,000 utilities in over 45 countries around the world and are being used to collect data from 275 million electric, gas, and water meters. Of those, more than 700 customers use Itron's radio and telephone-based technology to automatically collect information from almost 19 million of those meters. Itron technology is also in use at a number of the newly created wholesale energy markets in the U.S. and Canada to provide critical billing and settlement systems for the power flowing into and out of those deregulating markets. Itron's website can be found at www.itron.com.
Badger Meter is a marketer and manufacturer of flow measurement and control technology, developed both internally and with other technology companies, as well as the leader in providing digital connectivity to AMR technologies. Its products are used to measure and control the flow of liquids and gases in a variety of applications.
