South Central Indiana REMC selects NorthStar Utilities Solutions' MeterSense to Help Members Save Money

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NorthStar Utilities Solutions' MeterSense MDM is continuing to rapidly expand in the utility mid-market as the preferred meter data management solution. South Central Indiana REMC chose MeterSense to empower their cooperative members with better information for energy conservation and the ability to improve the operational efficiency of the utility.

OTTAWA, ON- 30 April 2010- NorthStar Utilities Solutions' MeterSense has been selected by South Central Indiana (SCI) REMC. South Central Indiana REMC is deploying the MeterSense Meter Data Management (MDM) solution as part of their ongoing commitment to continuous improvement in providing safe, reliable power at a competitive cost. The primary drivers for proceeding with a MDM system are to empower their members with better information for energy conservation and to improve the operational efficiency of the utility.

"A key part of this initiative is to serve up detailed information to our members," explained Greg McKelfresh, Senior Vice President of Business Technology at South Central Indiana REMC. "They'll be able to view details of their consumption by time of day and also compare their current rate with the new Time of Use rates that we'll be introducing. Once our members understand their consumption patterns, they'll be able to make better decisions about when to use energy. By shifting usage to off-peak periods customers can assist the cooperative in controlling costs. If they change to the Time of Use rate, they will be able to reduce their monthly electric bill." In addition to helping members become more efficient in their energy usage, these new capabilities are expected to increase general levels of customer satisfaction.

There are key functions of the MeterSense solution for South Central Indiana REMC including:

· Validate and cleanse the data being delivered by the smart meters
· Present energy information reports and analysis to the members
· Engage their consumers with a "Beat the Peak" program
· Present data for operational analysis by the utility
· Provide long-term storage of the data

This approach ensures that all data presented to the cooperative members is complete and error-free. It also makes high quality data available for the utility to analyze in order to identify and diagnose line losses.

Distribution analytic solutions will also be provided to South Central Indiana REMC as part of this solution. These are rules based reports that will notify identified utility personal when established thresholds are exceeded, at specific monthly increments, or following specific events of interest. These business intelligence reports include:

· Voltage Optimization and exception reporting
· Blink momentary interruption analytics
· Load and Forecasting Analytics
· System plant optimization
· Line loss identification and prioritization

Savings will then be applied to more continuous improvement initiatives and passed back to the members through the rates they pay.

NorthStar Utilities Solutions vice president, Ken Hayes, stated, "We're proud to play a part in this initiative. Not only is MeterSense helping the cooperative members with peak shaving conservation, but it's providing South Central Indiana REMC with the tools they need to improve the efficiency of the network."

About South Central Indiana REMC

South Central Indiana REMC is the largest distribution cooperative in the state of Indiana, serving more than 33,000 members in a seven county area including: Morgan, Monroe, Brown, Owen, and parts of Putnam, Clay and Johnson counties. For more information on the member-owned cooperative, visit www.sciremc.coop.

Learn more about MeterSense
Utilities will get a chance to see MeterSense on display at the CS Week conference in Nashville, May 24-28. Visit us to learn more about how MeterSense can help utilities turn their smart grid visions into realities.

About NorthStar Utilities Solutions
NorthStar has served the utility market for more than 30 years. We deliver integrated solutions for utilities' billing, customer information, and financial and meter data management needs. More than 200 customers in North America and the Caribbean use NorthStar solutions to manage revenues, deliver superior customer service, improve efficiencies and reduce costs.

For more information on NorthStar Utilities Solutions and the NorthStar product suite, please visit www.northstarutilities.com.

MeterSense - Enabling The Smart Grid

For additional information contact:
Ken Hayes
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
NorthStar Utilities Solutions
A division of Harris Computer Systems
256-686-1278 or 256-642-6368
khayes @ northstarutilities.com
sales @ northstarutilities.com

About Harris
Harris is a leading provider of utility customer information systems (CIS), billing, financial management, and meter data management software solutions. Since 1976, Harris has focused on providing feature-rich and robust turnkey solutions to public power and water markets as well as all levels of local government throughout North America. Harris' focus is on creating long-term relationships with our customers and ensuring that we meet the changing needs of our customers over time. For further information on Harris Computer Systems and NorthStar please visit our website at http://www.harriscomputer.com, or call 888-847-7747 x 3183.