SPOKANE, WA, April 5, 2005 -- Itron Inc. announced a contract with Dominion Virginia Power to expand its automatic meter reading (AMR) system with the retrofit of 750,000 electricity meters with Itron technology. The contract also includes the expanded deployment of Itron's mobile collector system with GPS mapping and outage restoration tools.
The project expansion includes the installation of Itron AMR technology on the 750,000 meters that had not been automated to date. When finished, the project will complete automation of Dominion Virginia Power's service territory with Itron AMR technology. The addition of GPS mapping will augment and expand Dominion's existing mobile AMR system, and provide support to the utility's outage management operations.
The utility first contracted with Itron in 1997 for AMR technology and has continued expansion of the system.
Russ Vanos, vice president and general manager of Itron hardware sales, said the retrofit of Itron's AMR technology will complete the second phase of Dominion's metering program and fully automate meter reading at the utility.
"Dominion's 'out-of-the-box' thinking combined with the flexibility of Itron's AMR technology has enabled the utility to leverage existing assets while providing more efficient, more effective service to their customers," said Vanos. "This is a reaffirmation of the cost savings afforded to utilities that use Itron AMR technology. We are pleased to continue our partnership with Dominion Virginia Power by undertaking a project of this size."
Itron (www.itron.com) is a leading technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. More than 3,000 utilities worldwide rely on Itron's award-winning technology to provide the knowledge they require to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Itron creates value for its clients by providing industry-leading solutions for electricity metering; meter data collection; energy information management; demand response; load forecasting, analysis and consulting services; distribution system design and optimization; web-based workforce automation; and enterprise and residential energy management.
For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.
###
