Suffolk County Water Chooses Itron

10 July 2008, 6:46pm

Suffolk County Water Authority Chooses Itron for Automated Meter Reading Project
System to Eliminate Estimated Bills and Improve Customer Service

Liberty Lake, Wash. — July 8, 2008 — Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today that Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) has signed a contract for deployment of Itron’s mobile automated meter reading (AMR) system. The efficiencies gained by using Itron's AMR technology will enable SCWA to collect accurate meter reads more frequently and enhance its relationships with customers.

“Automated meter reading is a key part of our strategy to enhance customer service and maximize operating efficiency,” said Stephen Jones, the CEO of SCWA. “Itron is our meter technology provider and we will look to them to help us move into AMR, as we rely on their expertise to help us install, operate and maintain our system as efficiently as possible.”

Located in New York state, SCWA plans to initially target Eastern Long Island for automation, which includes 21,000 SCWA customers in Montauk and the Hamptons, with subsequent rollouts to the 353,000 meters in the rest of its service territory.

In addition to reducing handheld meter reading, meter shop and back office costs, bill complaint calls to the customer call center will be reduced with the deployment. Security, both for meter readers and customers will also be improved by eliminating the need to access the meter on the customer’s premise. AMR will establish a firm database from which to examine a revised peak/non-peak rate structure. SCWA estimates that over 100,000 acres within its service territory are suburban green turf lawns under automatic irrigation.

Itron mobile AMR systems, key to the ChoiceConnect™ AMR data collection suite, use a vehicle equipped with a portable radio transceiver and computer to gather consumption and tamper data from electricity, gas and water radio-based endpoints.

“Suffolk County Water Authority is an excellent example of a water utility that wants to further improve operations and enhance customer service in the most cost-effective manner possible,” said Lou Gust, vice president of water sales. “Suffolk County Water Authority focuses on these measures and has been recognized for high customer approval ratings. We value highly our long-term relationship with Suffolk County Water Authority and look forward to commencing work on this important project.”

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Geo: International