OREANDA-NEWS. Landis+Gyr announced an agreement with CPS Energy to supply advanced residential electric meters for the utility's grid modernization effort, a partnership that also  supports the utility's New Energy Economy initiative to boost San Antonio's clean technology sector.

Landis+Gyr will provide 700,000 E-350 FOCUS(r) advanced meters with shipments beginning early in 2014. The meter upgrade project is anticipated to take four years. As part of the agreement, Landis+Gyr will partner with CPS Energy by supporting economic development including job creation and support for an innovation center in San Antonio and local education scholarships.

"As a partner on a number of initiatives, including a large scale demand response project, Landis+Gyr is helping CPS Energy create a more reliable grid and decrease load at times of peak demand," said CPS Energy President and CEO Doyle Beneby. "By bringing jobs and supporting education, Landis+Gyr is also growing economic development in and around San Antonio."

In addition to metering technology, Landis+Gyr is operating a direct load control program at CPS Energy. The utility is using Virtual Peak Plant(tm) software and load control devices from Landis+Gyr to verify and measure energy savings from conservation events. The program has the potential to provide a verifiable reduction of 250 megawatts of peak demand.

"CPS Energy is taking a leading role in promoting energy management and efficiency, and Landis+Gyr is pleased to have an active part in supporting these initiatives," said Richard Mora, CEO of Landis+Gyr North America. "The benefits derived from advanced metering, grid automation and advanced load management are proven to pay off in reliability, operational efficiency and energy savings."

CPS Energy is the nation's largest municipally owned natural gas and electric company, providing service to approximately 741,000 electric and 331,000 natural gas customers in the Greater San Antonio area. The company offers the lowest rates among the top 20 largest U.S. cities, while ranking number one in wind-energy capacity among municipally owned systems and number one in Texas for solar generation.