Southern California Edison selects Itron OpenWay® AMI meter for SmartConnect metering program

Itron has reached an agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE) to deploy Itron's OpenWay meter and communications system as part of the utility's SmartConnect metering program.

OpenWay by Itron is a standards-based, open-architecture smart metering solution that features two-way wireless communication to state-of-the-art electricity meters at homes and small businesses. OpenWay is designed to meet a broad set of customer energy

management requirements, such as real-time energy communication to thermostats, information displays and energy smart appliances using ZigBee® technology.

"SCE has been a leader in the electric industry on smart metering and has been an important Itron customer for more than two decades, so we are very excited to be working with the company on Edison SmartConnect," said LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron chairman and CEO. "We look forward to being a part of SCE's plans."

The Edison SmartConnect program is a key component of SCE's leadership in managing increasing demand for electricity from customers and providing environmental leadership through energy efficiency, demand management, electric transportation and smart technologies. Edison plans to automate 5.3 million meters from 2009 through 2012.

"This agreement with Itron marks an important milestone in the advancement of Edison SmartConnect," said Lynda Ziegler, SCE's senior vice president of customer service. "OpenWay's flexibility and advanced technology is a terrific example of how companies are rising to the challenge to enable consumers to make more sophisticated energy choices."