Elster, the global leader in smart metering and smart grid system solutions, announced today that Dominion Virginia Power, one of the nation's largest electricity utilities, has chosen Elster's EnergyAxis® System Smart Grid Solution for use in the utility's recently announced energy conservation plans.

In 2009, Dominion plans to deploy 200,000 smart meters as part of a large demonstration program of smart grid technology in urban and rural areas of Dominion's service territory. Dominion expects to improve customer service and business operations through advanced system control, real-time outage notification, and power quality monitoring.

As part of this program, Dominion is deploying a number of smart thermostats with the EnergyAxis System for a residential critical peak pricing pilot this summer. Dominion will measure customer responsiveness to changing energy prices and the impact on energy demand during peak usage periods.

Dominion's plans for using the EnergyAxis System strengthen a long-standing relationship between Dominion and Elster. "Dominion is an industry leader, providing its customers with state-of-the-art, cost-effective, energy conservation programs," said Ivo Steklac, global vice president, Elster Integrated Solutions. "We are excited that our EnergyAxis System will provide Dominion with a solid foundation to help meet its business and energy conservation goals."

Fri Jul 18 14:42:00 CDT 2008