Smart Meter Manufacturers Agree to Develop Communication Standards for the UK

STAFFORD, England, July 29, 2010 - Today Elster, Landis+Gyr and Secure reached an agreement to work together
to develop common approaches for the development of smart communication
standards necessary for the interoperability of equipment for the UK market.

The solutions will be based on open standards and available
specifications for Smart Meter technologies and will help to dramatically
accelerate the roll out of gas and electricity Smart Meters in the UK. Under
the initiative, energy suppliers will be able to access a range of Smart
Meters and in-home displays that comply with the Supplier's Requirements for
Smart Metering (SRSM) specifications, can operate on today's low-cost GPRS
networks and are upgradeable in the field to accommodate other communication
standards as they emerge.

Recent announcements from the Department of Energy and Climate Change
(DECC) and Ofgem have led the companies to believe there is industry-wide
benefit in coordinating technology standards to speed the adoption of Smart
Meter technologies in the UK.

The three manufacturers will work to develop and demonstrate a roadmap
for interchangeable and interoperable command sets to support smart Home Area
Networks (HANs) based on Zigbee's Smart Energy Profile (SEP) and Wide Area
Networks (WANs) based on DLMS protocols, ultimately ensuring that any smart
product from any of the three can be installed as part of any given
household's smart system. The three companies will continue to compete in all
other aspects of meter production, including cost of supply, capability,
reliability and durability.

UK consumers will benefit as a result because competition in the supply
of meter systems will be accelerated, as one of the fundamental barriers to
the development and delivery of meter systems has been significantly reduced.
It is anticipated that this will, in turn, help to speed the adoption of
Smart Meters and, at the same time, reduce the cost of the UK's roll-out. The
consumer benefits of Smart Metering include accurate bills, improved industry
processes and the ability to reduce consumption. Smart Meters are an integral
component of the Government's Low Carbon Transition plan for 2020.

The roadmap will comprise a number of complementary steps, the first four
milestones being:

    - Head end system (HES) interchangeability  Oct 2010
    - Base level SEP interoperability           Feb 2011
    - Base level DLMS interoperability          May 2011
    - Prepayment interoperability               Sep 2011

To ensure the approach to openness is maintained, the manufacturers will
ensure that the proceedings are conducted in full compliance with competition
regulations and any resulting specifications will be made available to
industry.

"Smart Metering in the UK is a huge technical and logistical project.
Interim solutions jointly developed by industry leaders can only ease the
transition to open standards and enable an earlier adoption of Smart Metering
solutions," said Frank Hyldmar of Elster.

"We are fully supportive of this initiative and believe it will provide
the market with workable solutions far more quickly than current processes
and provide a bridge to an enduring interoperable market," said Babu Babel of
Secure.

"The UK's model for smart energy is amongst the most advanced in the
world. UK consumers will benefit significantly from accelerated adoption of
open standards and a collaborative approach to mass roll-out," said John
Stretch of Landis+Gyr.

About Elster

Elster is one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water
measurement and control providers. Our offerings include distribution
monitoring and control, advanced smart metering, demand response, networking
and software solutions, and numerous related communications and services -
key components for enabling consumer choice, operational efficiency and
conservation. Our products and solutions are widely used by utilities in the
traditional and emerging Smart Grid markets.

Elster has one of the most extensive installed revenue measurement bases
in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the
course of the last 10 years. It sells its products and services in more than
130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications
for residential, commercial and industrial, and transmission and distribution
applications.

With a heritage of more than 170 years of providing utility solutions,
Elster enjoys a reputation as a leading innovator and has played, and
continues to play, an important role in shaping industry standards with
respect to performance, reliability, accuracy and functionality.

Elster was acquired by funds advised by CVC Capital Partners in September
2005.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

John Bluth, Elster Corporate Communications, +1-919-250-5425, john.bluth at elster.com, or Geoffrey Riggs, Elster Integrated Solutions, +33-467-22-66-62, geoffrey.riggs at coronis.com