A major focus of our Technical Products Group is Metering and Metering Systems. We have had much success through the years offering products from the bread and butter household single-phase meter to commercial poly- phase meters and high-end revenue metering. As technology has advanced rapidly, we continue to stay on top of the developments in meter technology and share our expertise with our customers. One of the ways we do this is to work in partnership with key suppliers that are driving innovation in emerging technology.

System Management

A very good example of one of these partnerships is our relationship with Hunt Technologies. Together, we offer Automated Meter Reading (AMR) systems to our electric utility customers to help improve their customer service and revenue collection while reducing operating costs.

AMR systems are designed to do more than provide automation to the electric utility companies meter reading practices. Although a substantial investment, a tailored study can show a very quick payback that can be achieved with a fully deployed system. An AMR system - now known as an END-Point Management System - can communicate metering values and system integrity news from remote points around the utilities system back to a central system to be viewed and evaluated. The data collected by the AMR system can also be integrated with the customer billing system for maximum cost management and data reliability. To provide the highest value, we will couple our meter supplier with the AMR system provider to provide a complete metering and communication package. As we further expand our technical product offerings, we will enhance our capabilities to offer packaged solutions; meters, intelligent end-points, communications, and tailored control and status collection software. Also, an emerging trend in the municipal market is the desire for AMR (or end-point management) and SCADA for gas and water, as well as electricity. We will strive to ensure all of our technical products have the capability of supporting gas, water and electric distribution systems.