CURRENT Group Successfully Demonstrates Interoperable Smart Grid Prime Metering System

BARCELONA, Spain -

- CURRENT Group, along with Iberdrola and leading global technology partners, successfully demonstrate the first fully interoperable and open Smart Grid communications infrastructure in support of Europe’s Smart Grid roadmap

- Interoperability provides the foundation for a global non-proprietary advanced metering solution using powerline communications

- Open solutions pave way for lower cost deployment of Smart Grid in Europe in support of energy efficiency and carbon reduction

CURRENT Group, LLC, a leading Smart Grid company and founding member of the PRIME Alliance, announces that it has successfully demonstrated the interoperability of the first ever open metering solution in support of Europe’s Smart Grid Roadmap.

Interoperability has been successfully tested in multi-vendor environments based on multiple chipset technologies. “We have demonstrated an open, non-proprietary, fully interoperable and robust communication carrier between utilities and their customers. This demonstration provides a clear path to solving the need for a public, cost-effective Smart Grid communications infrastructure in support of Europe’s Smart Grid roadmap,” said Tom Willie, CURRENT’s Senior Vice President of Product Development and Technology and Vice Chairman of the PRIME Alliance.

About PRIME Alliance

The PRIME (PoweRline Intelligent Metering Evolution) Alliance was formed to develop an open and future-proofed communications infrastructure to support large-scale metering and other Smart Grid projects. The goal of the alliance is to define, test and develop the framework in which meters and other devices can interoperate using a fully open physical layer (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) specification. PRIME Alliance partners include ADD, Itron, Landis+Gyr, Microsyscom, ST Microelectronics, Texas Instruments, ZIV and the Spanish utility Iberdrola, one of the four largest electric utilities in the world.

Collaboration

In order to achieve this interoperability milestone, CURRENT has worked closely with leading technology partners and Iberdrola, a world leader in electric power, through the PRIME Alliance to define, test, and validate the overall solution.

“Legacy metering approaches often required utilities to accept that the communications link between the meter vendor and meter collector was proprietary, in essence locking the utility into a single communications provider solution. The PRIME initiative is designed to define standards that allow meter vendors and meter collector providers to integrate open communications solutions which will speed adoption, reduce cost, and expand the capabilities of Smart Grid solutions for utility customers and CURRENT has demonstrated that such a system works. This will result in lower cost meters, more innovative energy management solutions and a faster realization of the reliability and energy efficiency gains and carbon emissions reductions that a Smart Grid will produce,” said Tom Willie.

“Our relationship with CURRENT has enabled Texas Instruments to achieve a power line communication solution that is fully compatible with the PRIME standard,” said Emmanuel Sambuis, general manager of Texas Instrument’s metering business. “Texas Instruments is committed to providing solutions that enable smart grid deployment around the world.”

For more information, visit CURRENT Group October 6th through the 8th at the 2009 Metering Europe conference in Barcelona at Booth 305.

About CURRENT

CURRENT Group, LLC delivers innovative and industry-leading intelligent solutions that optimize the distribution system and offer utilities new ways to monitor and manage the health of the grid. Through CURRENT’s distributed sensing, monitoring, communications and analytical technologies, utilities are better able to understand, predict and respond to system disturbances and faults, identify where inefficiencies are, and enable the smartest possible sourcing and distribution of power by the utility to their customers.

CURRENT’s state-of-the-art technologies are being implemented by utilities around the globe. CURRENT is a member of the Xcel Energy SmartGridCity(TM) consortium that also includes Xcel Energy, Accenture, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Ventyx, GridPoint, OSIsoft and SmartSynch. Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity(TM) is utilizing the fully integrated CURRENT Smart Grid(TM) solution that combines advanced sensing technology with two-way real-time communications, 24/7 monitoring and enterprise analysis software and related services to provide Xcel Energy with location-specific, actionable intelligence on its electric distribution grid. CURRENT is also engaged in European Union-sponsored projects in partnership with Iberdrola, the world’s 4th largest electric utility, among others, to expand the use of smart grid technology in the European Union. This year, CURRENT was honored by the World Economic Forum as a 2009 Technology Pioneer and selected by Dow Jones as one of the Top 10 most Innovative Clean Technology companies in Europe.

CURRENT is a private company that is backed by leading investors including Liberty Associated Partners, EnerTech Capital, Google, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co.

CURRENT is headquartered outside of Washington, DC, with offices throughout the United States and in Zurich, Switzerland and has representation in Australia, Brazil and Singapore. Additional information can be found at www.currentgroup.com/.

Source: CURRENT Group, LLC

Lori Reslock of the CURRENT Group, LLC, USA; +1-301-944-2824