ESCO Partners with Firetide Inc.

ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) recently acquired a minority interest in Firetide Inc., a leading provider of wireless infrastructure mesh networks, and also entered into a strategic alliance agreement with the company through its Aclara RF Systems Inc. subsidiary.

Aclara and Firetide have developed a revolutionary WAN, the Smart Communications Network for gas, water, and electric utility customers. The network is based in part on Firetide’s proven wireless networking technology.

Firetide is providing the MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) radio technology and
the network management software required for the Aclara solution to communicate in mesh, point-to-point, or point-to-multipoint modes. Firetide solutions are currently being used by many municipalities and businesses to stream video from security cameras, as well as voice and data for enterprise-wide applications. The technology supports data throughput rates of 1Mb/s to 300 Mb/s in outdoor environments, making it perfectly suited to handle utility distribution applications. This Smart Communications Network solution matches the speed and performance of a fiber network at a fraction of the cost.

Vic Richey, ESCO's Chairman and CEO, commented, "Through our partnership with
Firetide, we are pleased to introduce a top-tier communication network that will satisfy our utility customers’ needs for a high-speed, standards-based networking system. By employing accepted standards combined with wireless mesh technology, the Aclara Smart Communications Network provides simple, secure and reliable interoperability to a wide range of utility operating systems. In addition, this complementary network solution further improves upon the economics of our AMI technologies.”

"This strategic alliance combines Firetide’s industry-leading technology and Aclara’s
market expertise to deliver a high-value solution for utilities especially as it relates to emerging smart grid initiatives,” said Bo Larsson, CEO of Firetide Inc. “To fully enable smart grid and other utility applications, public and private utilities need a cost effective way to communicate easily and seamlessly and to share data, provide security and enable communications. Firetide’s wireless infrastructure mesh has emerged as a viable solution for utilities’ communications needs and as a superior alternative to cellular and other types of communications, given its high bandwidth and reliable topology.”

Firetide is a privately held company headquartered in Los Gatos, California, with worldwide product distribution. Further information is available on Firetide’s web site at www.firetide.com.

Customers of Pepco Holdings Inc. to Manage Energy Use and Carbon Footprint with
Aclara Software

Pepco Holdings Inc. (PHI) is continuing the development of Aclara’s load and rates analysis, and carbon-footprint calculator modules to allow customers to view data about electric and gas usage as well as calculate carbon footprints.

The PHI project, which began in 2006, will now deploy the load and rates analysis module in its Delmarva Power service area in Delaware, with plans to extend the module to all of its 1.9 million customers by 2013. The carbon footprint module will be available for all PHI customers immediately.

The load and rates analysis module provides charts that illustrate hourly and daily electric and gas use. The module takes into account attributes such as weather, average usage, weekend versus weekday usage, and on-peak or off-peak time periods. In addition, the module offers a rate-comparison calculator that allows customers to perform what-if analysis on various alternatives such as time-of-use rates. It also will estimate a customer’s bill at any time in the month based on the last bill and current data from the advanced metering infrastructure system.

The carbon-footprint calculator determines the environmental impact of customers’ usage using data they input into the system about energy, water, transportation, and waste. Both modules help educate customers, supplying the information they need to take action to reduce their bills.

The new software also will benefit customer-service representatives, who will have access to information about individual customer’s gas and electric usage during billing calls. The information will help them consistently explain billing fluctuations to customers as well as identify strategies to lower their bills.

“PHI is on the leading edge of using advanced metering technologies to deliver customer-focused solutions to help control energy bills,” said Senior Vice President of Operations, Michael Sullivan. “By moving forward with these software applications, which present real, actionable information to customers, we are building a platform to achieve this goal.”

Aclara also provides technology for PHI’s Energy Know How Solutions program. The software used today allows customers to analyze their bills and determine how specific appliances such as water heaters and air conditioning systems are affecting their energy use. In addition, the application offers tips on how to reduce energy use by replacing outmoded electrical systems and appliances.

Autovation® 2009 — Utilimetrics Smart Metering Conference and Exposition Wrap Up

Big announcements and strong solutions are what Aclara delivered at Autovation® 2009 the Utilimetrics smart metering conference and exposition. The show, which focuses on smart metering, communications, automation, data management, strategic planning, and industry trends, made a perfect backdrop to educate our customers and share the Aclara vision on utility-driven needs such as:

• AMI solutions with the STAR Network and TWACS technology systems
• Meter data management, presentment, and device management with a variety of software solutions
• Advanced customer solutions with home-area networking, demand response, and prepayment options
• Data communication and control with the introduction of the Aclara Smart Communications Network

Autovation allows industry leaders, business partners, regulatory officials, and others key players to prepare for the upcoming improvements and changes to the utility infrastructure.

Metering and More
How Leesburg, VA Slashed Water Losses

Randy Shoemaker
Utilities Director for Leesburg, VA

I had to smile when I saw the EPA officially call “installation of water meters” a water efficiency measure recently.  It was in a memo that clarified what the EPA considered green projects worthy of funding through the stimulus bill that passed in February.

At the town of Leesburg Department of Utilities, we learned first-hand that modern versions of automatic meter reading (AMR) lead to greater efficiency and conservation. The lesson was clear to us in 2004, when our newly installed wireless, fixed-network metering system helped us cut our unaccounted-for water – the difference between water treated and water billed – from approximately 15% to 7%.

Fixed-network metering was part of a larger, multi-dimensional campaign that helped Leesburg reduce unaccounted-for water from a high of 23% to 3%. It was a smart conservation move that made the utility more accountable to our citizens, our customers, and our town leaders.

Click here to read the entire July/August 2009 Water Efficiency article about how the STAR® Network system helped the city of Leesburg, VA slash water losses.

TWACS® MIRA Board Boosts Efficiency for
Smart Grid Applications

Larger substations get a boost in performance and efficiency with the Aclara Multiple Input Receiver Assembly (MIRA) board. This upgrade to existing substation CRPA/CRMA detector cards delivers faster search-in and read times, enhances detection during high-noise conditions, and  enables your TWACS technology system to support multiple smart grid applications such as demand response, distribution automation, home-area networking, and time of use information.

A single TWACS MIRA board easily replaces the three existing CRPA/CRMA cards within the CRU and is fully backward compatible with all TWACS technology transponders.

The MIRA board uses multiple Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms to detect inbound meter reads at the substation equipment in a variety of noise conditions. The DSP provides enhanced data detection accuracy, improved first-try reads, and fewer retries.

Using concurrent phasing with up to 128 inputs, the MIRA board increases total network throughput by reading more meters simultaneously, which greatly increases system communication capacity.

When combined with Aclara’s PROasys™ application, the MIRA board includes a Fast Ping feature to address up to 256 units per group, four times greater than a substation using just the CRPA/CRMA cards.

New Contract Wins

Software Products Expand Reach in Utility Market

Aclara software solutions continue to provide value to our customers with applications to help better present and understand data and the tools to make better usage choices. The following customers have recently signed on or amended their existing contracts to add software solutions.

• Aclara added Allegheny Power as a new client this month. Allegheny Power will offer its Maryland residential customers the Home Energy Center application from the ENERGYprism® Customer Care suite of applications.
• Portland General Electric has signed an agreement to add the ENERGYprism® Customer Care applications, Bill Analysis, Energy Analysis, and Load Analysis.
• Duke Energy also signed an amendment to add the Load Analysis module and successfully launched the module to its customers at the end of September.  Duke customers with AMI meters are now able to view their interval usage online.
• Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) has launched the Aclara Load Analysis module, integrating with LIPA’s Aclara STAR® Network, allowing customers with interval meters to see their hourly usage. 
• FirstEnergy, the nation's fifth largest investor-owned electric system has signed on to upgrade its legacy Energy Vision® Load Vision applications to Aclara’s latest Load Settlement and Analysis applications. The solution will support FirstEnergy’s 4.5 million customers.  Additionally, First Energy has signed a four-year contract to add Aclara’s Bill Analysis and Rate Comparison applications for all of its customers.
• PPL Electric Utilities will use Aclara MDMS solutions to support its production rollout of Time of Use pricing for its 1.4M customers.
• The City of Tallahassee went live with the Call Center application and will soon go live with the self service applications as well.   The multi-commodity Aclara MDMS will go live in November, validating, storing, and distributing large volumes of AMI data for electric, gas and water.
• Consumers Energy launched Home Energy Center for all of its 2.7 million residential customers. 
• United Illuminating Company implemented bill messaging within the Aclara dashboard application, a user interface that provides a single screen from which customers can manage their accounts. Bill messaging notifies customers of updates and changes, such as a potential turn off. 

New Contract Win!

Tideland EMC in North Carolina has chosen TWACS technology as its AMI solution.  The conversion of the utility’s 23,900 electric meters will include all hardware, software, and support services.