Landis+Gyr is moving ahead to deploy an advanced metering system to more than 700,000 AEP Texas electric consumers in south and west Texas, after successfully completing the first phase of installations.
Landis+Gyr began installing the Gridstream RF smart grid network at AEP Texas last year. Gridstream meters have been installed at 15,000 locations and tested to ensure high performance and compliance with regulatory and security standards. Regulatory requirements for the project include the ability of the Gridstream network to provide information to consumers both through in-home displays and a web portal. AEP Texas plans to deploy more than 170,000 meters in 2010 with the objective of completing its entire service territory by 2014.
Landis+Gyr North America CEO Richard Mora said the company's experience in the Texas utility market has been instrumental in moving the AEP project forward. "In Texas alone we are contracted to deploy advanced metering systems to more than 4 million residential and commercial energy customers over the next few years, bringing to life the most advanced set of smart metering functions, benefiting utility operations, aligning with state technical and interoperability requirements and delivering up-to-date electricity information to consumers. We continue to work closely with our utility customers and their regulators to ensure market needs are met," Mora said.
Headquartered in Corpus Christi, AEP Texas is a distribution utility delivering electricity to more than 1 million homes and businesses in a service territory of nearly 100,000 square miles. Major cities served include Corpus Christi, Abilene, McAllen, Harlingen, San Angelo, Vernon, Victoria and Laredo. AEP Texas is part of the American Electric Power system, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states.
