ABB Introduces New ALPHA 1000 Electronic Revenue Meter

RALEIGH, North Carolina, USA – May 25, 2000 – ABB Electricity Metering, a leader in innovative metering solutions, has introduced the ALPHA 1000 meter, the newest member of the ALPHA family of high accuracy, secure electronic revenue meters. The ALPHA 1000 meter is a direct connected 3-phase meter designed specifically for large residential, commercial and light industrial customers. It meets or exceeds all IEC standards for direct-connected 3-phase meters.

“The ALPHA 1000 meter bridges the gap between electromechanical and existing electronic meters by making advanced metering functionality a cost-effective choice for 3-phase residential and commercial applications,” explained Dr. John Reckleff, executive vice president and general manager of ABB Electricity Metering. “No other meter combines security, reliability, and high functionality, all at such an affordable price.”

The ALPHA 1000 meter has many features separating it from electromechanical meters and other electronic meters in its class. The flexibility of configurations is available at a very modest cost; and the security features are designed to save money both in cost and in revenue metering security. Other features include instrumentation and installation tool kits to ensure that the meter is properly installed and that service connections remain in the proper order.

The ALPHA 1000 meter can be configured to allow the energy provider to economically gain information about their direct connect customers such as maximum demand, reactive or apparent energy and overload energy. The ALPHA 1000 meter reduces meter inventory required with its standard wide voltage range (100V to 415V) and maximum current ratings from 40 to 100A. A 12kV surge protection rating further enhances the robust meter design. The ALPHA 1000 meter’s accurate and reliable meter data comes from ABB’s patented ALPHA meter chip that is currently used in over two million ABB ALPHA meters installed around the world.

The ALPHA 1000 meter is the culmination of ABB’s years of experience, coupled with the customer-driven design. “ABB put together a global project team to determine the needs of our customers and allowed them to evaluate the meter’s design and functionality,” said Reckleff. “The result is a meter that allows our customers to plan for tomorrow’s needs while living within today’s budget.”

ABB will be accepting orders for the ALPHA 1000 meter in June 2000. For more information, contact ABB Electricity Metering at +1-919-212-4800 or via e-mail at cust.support@us.abb.com.

ABB Electricity Metering of Raleigh, N.C., a unit of ABB, creates information technology solutions and infrastructure for meters and meter data management systems.

ABB serves customers in automation; power transmission and distribution; oil, gas and petrochemicals; building technologies; and financial services. With novel IT applications, tailored software solutions, growing eBusiness, and a fast-expanding knowledge and service base, ABB is building links to the new economy. The ABB Group, which reported revenues of $25 billion in 1999, employs about 165,000 people in more than 100 countries.

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