The Central Lincoln People's Utility District, a publicly owned electric utility located along Oregon's coastline, has selected Landis+Gyr to provide a complete smart grid network and advanced metering solution.

The utility will deploy Landis+Gyr's Gridstream RF solution, featuring a network with proven communication capabilities for advanced metering, distribution automation and personal energy management applications.

As the recipient of a Smart Grid Investment Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Central Lincoln needs to complete the advanced metering deployment within three years. The grant will allow the utility to install a more sophisticated network that goes beyond automated meter reading to offer remote disconnect and reconnects, over-the-network firmware upgrades, standards-based home area networking and integration with distribution automation devices.

Additional requirements of the grant program include demonstrated security. Landis+Gyr's multi-tiered approach to security that addresses data encryption throughout the network, combined with the ability to update Gridstream endpoints remotely was also a key selling point.

Central Lincoln intends to offer many of the same tools for energy management to both residential and commercial accounts. Because Landis+Gyr offers ZigBee communications in commercial meters, the utility can provide those customers with a variety of access points to usage data and price signals.

Central Lincoln will begin deploying the system in January 2011 and plans to complete the deployment in June 2012.

For additional information, visit www.landisgyr.com or www.clpud.org.