February 28, 2012
Media statement
For immediate release

Christchurch firm triumphs at the trans-Tasman smart metering awards

Arc Innovations was the winner of two awards at the Smart Metering Australia and New Zealand Summit, 2012, defeating a strong field of international competitors.

Arc Innovations Ltd, based in Christchurch New Zealand, has been at the forefront of the transformation of electricity metering and was one of the first companies to provide end-to-end smart metering services worldwide.

The awards recognise excellence in smart metering and acknowledge those that play a defining role in moving the industry forward.

Receiving the awards at the awards ceremony on Monday 27th February in Sydney, Australia, Arc’s CEO Dale Alloway said, “Being selected as the winner of both the Smart Metering Technology of the Year Award and the Smart Metering Service Provider Award is a huge honour for us. It is a tribute to all the hard work our people have put into improving our technology, services and solutions for New Zealand’s electricity utilities and their customers.”

A panel of international utilities and smart metering experts evaluated and judged the entrants. The judges said of Arc “This is a company that has demonstrated several previous successful projects within the smart metering rollouts and delivery of services. They have had great feedback from the clients that they have worked with and proved that they become a valuable asset to the utilities they are working with”.

Arc works with all stakeholders in the industry to help them appreciate the critical elements of smart metering and the real and applied benefits that are being delivered to market.

Arc completed the first successful scale deployment of smart meters in the Southern Hemisphere with its Christchurch rollout of 130,000 meters in 2006. It is the only provider in Australasia to have developed a suite of communication technologies to successfully cover urban, rural and remote terrains.

Arc has been supplying services to multiple retailers for many years and to date Arc has provided in excess of 12 million electronic meter reads. Our commitment is to ensure that our smart metering services meet the requirements of both our customers and our customers’ customers and enhance energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energy resources.

About Arc Innovations
Arc is a fully owned subsidiary of Meridian Energy Limited. Arc has benefitted from nearly 15 years of research and development expertise and was born from within the New Zealand electricity retail sector rather than developed externally to service it.

Arc is intimately aware of the difficulties and challenges of operating in the electricity metering sector, not only in terms of accessibility and terrain but also in terms of the regulatory framework and retail competition drivers.

ENDS

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