Echelon Corp. has announced the first full-scale roll-out of its Networked Energy Services (NES) System in Germany. The public utility of Hassfurt awarded the contract to Echelon’s NES value-added reseller partner EVB Energie AG to provide its 10,000 customers with an advanced metering infrastructure over the next three years. Hassfurt does not anticipate any rate increases to consumers as a result of the project.

Germany recently proposed a new energy law requiring all new and remodeled homes to be equipped with smart meters by 2010 to promote energy conservation and efficiency.

The NES advanced metering infrastructure from Echelon consists of a family of integrated, advanced electronic electricity meters accessed via a web services-based network operating system over an IP networking infrastructure. Unlike systems with a dedicated radio per metering point, multiple NES meters can share a single IP connection through the use of Echelon's proven standards-based power line networking technology. This drives down the per-point connection cost and enables the system to easily and cost-effectively incorporate new wide area networking technologies over the life of the system. The system’s open interfaces allow the system to be cost-effectively expanded, adapted, and customized in ways unlike any competing system.

The NES system’s powerful web services-based network operating system provides a standards-based platform for enterprise applications and integration that enables applications to be quickly and cost-effectively deployed. Open interfaces within NES meters enable a market for third-party ad-ons that can expand and enhance the functionality of the meters, much as open interfaces in personal computers have lead to an explosion of plug-in and external devices that transform the functionality of PCs.