Australian Utilities Choose Itron Enterprise Edition Software

April 10, 2008
Itron Inc. will provide Victoria’s Powercor and CitiPower and South Australia’s ETSA Utilities with meter data management and data analysis software.

Itron Inc. will provide Victoria’s Powercor and CitiPower and South Australia’s ETSA Utilities with meter data management and data analysis software. Together, the three utilities serve more than 1.7 million energy customers throughout Australia.

The agreement, which will introduce Itron’s Enterprise Edition (IEE) to the three utilities, will assist Powercor and CitiPower in meeting key government-mandated metering regulations and will also enhance conservation efforts within their respective service areas. In particular, Victoria has an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) mandate that requires utilities to roll out smart meters to all customers within the state and to take steps to support conservation and energy efficiency goals. In addition to IEE, the Itron Distribution Asset Analysis (DAA) Suite will be implemented for Powercor and CitiPower to help them model distribution system reliability and efficiency.

“It is vital that we implement systems with the technology and scale capacity to meet the challenges of the AMI roll-out in Victoria,” said Glen McLean, CIO for Powercor and CitiPower. “We looked at meter data management systems and vendors from around the world and believe that the Itron solution will enable us to meet our AMI obligations now and into the future. Itron has a good track record and, coupled with its strong presence in Australia, will help us stay well ahead of the AMI curve.”

A unique aspect of this deal is Itron’s purchase of Powercor’s Network Transactions Management System (NTMS). NTMS manages the market transactions and the flow of meter data between the National Electricity Market Management Company (NEMMCO), electricity retailers, metering service providers, meter data managers and the utilities’ own enterprise systems.

“Itron will integrate the NTMS with IEE to provide the system with increased scalability and support for AMI functionality. This will enable Itron to provide a full end-to-end meter data management solution for the Australian deregulated energy market,” said Paul Nelsen, Itron Australasia’s Managing Director. “We expect to make the NTMS available to other utilities by 2009. Overall, these projects represent strong momentum for Itron in the Australian market.”

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of T&D World, create an account today!