AEP, GE Energy to work on smart meters

Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) announced today that it would work with Atlanta's GE Energy to develop, integrate and deploy an advanced energy delivery infrastructure and metering technologies.

GE Energy is a unit of Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric (NYSE: GE).

American Electric Power said it's planning for an initial deployment of the smart meters to 200,000 customers in 2008, with a goal of 5 million users by 2015.

"Many in our sector are moving toward deployment of smart meters, but our strategy goes far beyond that," said Michael Morris, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power.

"We're working with GE, a world leader in electronics and infrastructure, to integrate the smart meters necessary to provide options for our customers with enhancements to the distribution and transmission backbone necessary for our utilities to benefit. We're addressing the full energy pathway from the power plant to the home."

Smart meters are designed to help consumers control and reduce electricity, as well as improve the overall efficiency of electricity use.

"From GE's perspective, this agreement with AEP goes well beyond customer-supplier," said John Krenicki Jr., president and CEO of GE Energy.

"We will be working together on the development, integration and deployment of the technologies. And GE will join with AEP in the effort to educate regulators and customers on the benefits and longer-term potential of the technologies."

American Electric Power said once the new meters and infrastructure are in place the system will enable customers to respond to price signals that vary with time.

The company also said system will reduce the size and duration of outages by detecting the cause and specific location of the problem, and enable the integration of generators and batteries owned by the utility or the customer into grid operations.