ST. LOUIS – September 8, 2008 – TWACS® (Two-Way Automatic Communication System) technology from Aclaraâ„¢, St. Louis, is known for its ability to perform demand response by controlling load on electric appliances such as water heaters, air conditioners, and pool pumps. Its electric utility customers have relied on TWACS load-control devices for more than 20 years. Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, for example, has offered a program featuring simple, efficient TWACS load control on water heaters since 1985, saving their customers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Aclara is taking demand response and load control to a new level with the Aclaraâ„¢ DRU (Demand Response Unit). This solution, which Aclara will showcase at Autovation 2008, September 7-10, Atlanta, provides more real-time information to utilities about electricity use in the field than previous load control devices. It also offers customers who participate in demand-response programs some control over when appliances are shut on and off.
“With utilities looking to curb electricity demand to control costs and emissions, the Aclara DRU is the ‘now' generation of demand response and is designed with intelligence that can be upgraded to future home-area networks,” said Ed Kobeszka, Aclara product manager for the DRU.
The Aclara DRU features a unique Intelligent Comfortâ„¢ system, which revolutionizes the method for controlling load on individual electrical devices and equipment. The Intelligent Comfort system includes a patent-pending adaptive load-control algorithm that builds a profile characterizing the equipment's energy use over 24 hours. Using these profiles, utilities create a custom demand-response plan that cycles equipment on a schedule to curb demand and protect against under-voltage and under-frequency conditions.
The Intelligent Comfort system also considers the time of day, seasonal changes, and changes in household occupancy to appropriately adjust the profile associated with the controlled device. In addition, the Aclara DRU accommodates residential or commercial equipment. For more information, visit booth 300 at Autovation or the Aclara Web site at www.aclaratech.com.
For media inquiries:
Nancy E. Talley
Marketing Communications Manager
216-896-8657
About Aclara
The Aclara brand represents the industry's leading fixed-network Advanced Metering Infrastructure technologies and Meter Data Management software serving water, gas, and electric utilities globally. Three technologies provide Aclara customers premier solutions including TWACS® Technology (power line communications), STAR® Network (licensed radio frequency), and Aclara Softwareâ„¢ (meter data and asset management). Over 475 utilities in nine countries rely on proven Aclara solutions to connect with their customers. Capturing data. Liberating Knowledge.â„¢ www.AclaraTech.com.
About ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE)
ESCO, headquartered in St. Louis, is a proven supplier of special purpose utility solutions for electric, gas, and water utilities, including hardware and software to support advanced metering applications and fully automated intelligent instrumentation. In addition, ESCO provides engineered filtration products to the aviation, space and process markets worldwide and is the industry leader in RF shielding and EMC test products. Further information regarding ESCO and its subsidiaries is available on the Company's web site at www.escotechnologies.com.
