Meter competitors find common ground in advocacy

Major meter makers have come together to form the Smart Meter Manufacturers’ Association of America (SMMAA). The non-profit will focus on advocacy work and education on the topic of smart meters.

Founding members include Echelon, Elster, GE, Itron, Landis+Gyr and Sensus. Each company will have representatives on the board, with the president’s position rotating from one company to another.

“Because the smart meter is such a foundational component of the evolving intelligent grid, we see the need to better inform industry stakeholders — from regulators and legislators to media and consumers — about smart meters and smart grid benefits,” said David Elve, president of the SMMAA. “Our group is collaborating on top-of-mind subjects and creating a unified voice with the goal of moving the industry forward through policy. While our companies are competitors for utilities’ smart meter business, in the area of public policy, we stand on common ground in our desire for well-reasoned smart-grid regulation and incentives to advance the market.”

Meters from the SMMAA’s founding companies represent nearly 100 percent of the installed base of electric meters currently deployed in the United States and Canada. Some 35 million of those meters are considered “smart,” which means they provide two-way data communication between meter and utility, and measure electricity usage data on a much more frequent, near-real-time basis.