Research and Markets: Multi Utility Meter Report, Database & Directory Ed 7 2009

DUBLIN--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ce0468/multi_utility_mete) has
announced the addition of the "Multi Utility Meter Report, Database & Directory
Ed 7 2009" report to their offering.

In this new edition of the Multi-Utility Meter Report we have expanded the
coverage of the marketing profiles to review 51 countries in detail, an
expansion from 22 countries in the previous report. The countries contained are
(new countries underlined): (Europe & CIS) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, UK;
Asia (Pacific) Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam; (South America) Argentina,
Brazil, Chile; (North America) Canada, Mexico, USA, (Middle East) Iran: (Africa)
Egypt, South Africa.

The market is now broken down in value and volume by user segment, C&I and
residential. The report also contains a table of population, numbers of
households and the numbers of gas, water and electricity consumers in all gas,
water and electricity consumers using countries. The report includes a
discussion of the market drivers. Types of electricity, gas and water meters and
country practices for type approval are outlined. The electricity, gas and water
utility sector is outlined. Advanced metering is discussed, with reference to
the overlap of AMR and AMI.

Outline of the report:

Market analysis and meter types

* Meter demand in units and $ value, forecast annually from 2008 to 2012
* Regional and country analysis of demand (179 countries)

Market participants

* The major companies globally and within region are identified with market
shares by value and volume
* Company mergers and consolidations
* Market leaders identified in each major market

Advanced Metering, AMR and AMI

* Survey of global AMR and deployment
* Major AMR suppliers identified with market share for leader

Detailed surveys of the 51 largest electricity, gas, water meter markets, over
90% of the world market volume - (Europe & CIS) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
Ukraine, UK; Asia (Pacific) Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South
Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam; (South
America) Argentina, Brazil, Chile; (North America) Canada, Mexico, USA, (Middle
East) Iran: (Africa) Egypt, South Africa.

* Number of electricity, gas and water customers
* Annual meter demand in units and $ value (2008-2012)
* Meter type
* Market trend
* AMR deployment and development
* Type approval and certification, together
* Significant changes which are driving market development
* Market participants
* Utility background and market characteristics

Tables and spreadsheets containing:

* Global analysis and forecasts (2008-2012) for every market, for each of 179
countries
* Gas consumers and annual demand
* Market analysis by stock/balance, imports, exports and demand, for every
country
* Market size and forecast for each year from 2008 to 2012 for every country,
units and $ value

Analysis of demand by end user segment, C&I and residential in volume and
value.

* Historical export data from 1997 to 2007/08 in units, $ value and unit prices
* A separate Excel file is available containing all of these tables plus an
analysis of unit exports by country of origin and destination, for each year
from 2003 to 2008 Meter Manufacturing Companies
* Major meter companies identified and consolidations and mergers outlined
* Directory of meter manufacturers

Metrology

* Outline of global metrology institutions and standards, procedures for type
approval and meter verification
* Regional details and cooperation arrangements
* Methodology changes which are driving meter market developments

The report is accompanied by a database which includes:

The database includes:

* The tables from the report
* Current demand in units and value
* Forecasts annually to 2012 in units and value
* Export analysis annually from 1997 to 2008 in units, total $ value and unit
vale
* Spreadsheet of exports by country of origin and importing country for years
from 2004 to 2008

The Database

* The tables from the report
* Current demand in units and value
* Forecasts annually to 2012 in units and value
* Export analysis annually from 1997 to 2007/8 in units, total $ value and unit
price
* Spreadsheet of exports by country of origin and importing country from 2003 to
2007/8

The Directory A directory of meter manufacturers with (where available) the
address, tel, fax and generic email.

Executive Summary:

The world is adopting advanced metering in electricity. It has been talked about
for several years and now it is happening. So far 32 countries have decided to
proceed and the global metering market will increase 56% in five years, with
more to follow as further decisions are announced. The gas meter market is
following but is some way behind electricity. The water meter market,
historically more conservative, is slower to adopt advanced metering but price
increases and water scarcity are driving it in that direction.

AMR was once almost the preserve of the United Sates but AMI two-way fixed
network metering is being taken up much more widely. National roll-outs have
been announced in many European and Asian countries. The largest deployment of
advanced meters has been announced in China in the electricity sector. The
second largest will be in Britain, with 49 million electricity and gas meters.
The Korean government has created a company to operate Homenet, comprising a
national smart grid, together with a host of home communication and management
services. Greenland will be one of the smallest national smart systems but it
will be the most comprehensive, covering electricity, gas, water and heat
consumption in every household.

The report has measured the largest ever expansion of metering, already under
way and about to escalate significantly, both in quantitative and qualitative
terms. The report is redesigned and greatly expanded in scope compared with
previous editions. The changes and expansions have been designed to meet the
need of the metering industry for information at their specific request. The
metering companies have given strong support and have been generous in time and
provision of information. The publisher would like to acknowledge their generous
help.

However, it is not all good news. Amidst these exciting developments there are
traps for the unwary. There are immediate hurdles to be jumped and long term
pitfalls to be avoided. Not every deployment will offer the same opportunities
to the international meter manufacturers.

The gas meter market has been following the electricity meter trend to AMR in
the US for some years and is increasingly doing the same in Europe, but at a
much slower pace. With a new consciousness towards energy efficiency, driven
partly by fears about the environment and partly by concern about energy
security, gas utilities are now considering advanced metering, jumping from AMR
to AMI. The UK is the first country to announce a national roll-out of advanced
electricity and gas meters, totalling an enormous deployment of 49 million
meters. The publisher predicts that gas metering will follow the trend to
advanced metering more widely in the next few years.

The water meter sector is beginning to change, following in the path of the
advanced metering revolution taking place in the energy sector, but at some
distance behind it. In the US water utilities started to deploy AMR some years
ago but it has not reached parity with the energy utilities. The emphasis is now
changing for both sectors, to AMI. In a time of rising water prices there is a
need to control costs but another important consideration enters the equation
for water, scarcity of the resource. In recent years there have been a number of
critical droughts in countries scattered over the globe. In some countries which
rely on hydropower this has lead to a shortage of electricity, as was the case
in Brazil several years ago. In other countries it has affected both industry
and the population. In Taiwan in 2008 water was rationed for industry in order
to guarantee drinking water for the population. In China scarcity of water is a
national priority at the highest level. In the Middle East, Spain, the southern
states of America water scarcity is a recurrent problem and water management
systems have been in operation for some time. Smart water meters are being
deployed to manage the resource and this is a growth area and irrigation meters
are also increasingly prominent.

In some countries metering is seen as a separate service, as a profit centre as
well as a cost. Metering services are offered by specialist RBC (Read, Bill &
Collect) companies. Some are individual companies, others are divisions of
utilities. They offer a variety of services, among them submetering services.

Sub-meterings is another issue which the ABS report addresses for the first
time, the penetration and increasing usage of sub-metering, mostly for water and
heat. Property owners have always charged their tenants for water, but mostly
they include it in the rent or allocate costs by RUBs (ratio utility billing),
apportioning the charge according to floor area, numbers of occupants or some
such variable. Sub-meters encourage tenants to use less water and they guarantee
fair charges. Submeters have been around for some years but their usage is
growing and they predict more growth. Submeters are used not only to measure
total consumption but to monitor individual usage points, such as taps and
boilers and in the case of heat cost allocation meters to monitor energy use and
allocate costs to consumers.

Key Topics Covered:

I. Executive Summary - Multi-Utility Meter Report

I. Multi-Utility Meter Report - Overview

II. Meter Population and Demand

II. Global demand for meters

III. Meter Companies

III. Meter companies - Overview

IV. Heat Metering

IV. Heat metering - Overview

V. Metering Services, RBC Industry

VII. Beyond the Smart Grid - The Fourth Generation

Electricity Meters

* Executive Summary
* Meter population and demand
* Outlook and demand drivers
* Terminology of electricity meters
* Meter companies - 'Big players and rising stars'
* Country Profiles - Electricty Meters

Gas Meters

* Executive Summary
* Meter population and demand
* Outlook and demand drivers
* Terminology of gas meters
* Metering companies
* Country Profiles - Gas Meters

Water Meters

* Executive Summary
* Meter population and demand
* Metering and sub-metering - energy efficiency, cost allocation and billing
* Outlook and demand drivers
* Terminology of water meters
* Meters companies and market shares
* Country Profiles - Water Meters
* Advanced metering
* Metrology, standards, type approval and verification
* Standards
* Methodology and technical notes

Methodology:

The methodology of the study has been reviewed comprehensively by the ABS
Technical Review Panel and new metrics have been introduced to reflect market
evolution.

Each of the three main drivers was assessed separately (new building,
replacement and refurbishment of meters, and up-grading of meters) and relevant
metrics were considered, introduced or rejected. This is a more complex exercise
than it at first appears and some obvious candidates were rejected after
piloting calculations showed them to be false discriminators. The dynamics of
the market are changing and issues such as the conversion from electromechanical
to solid state meters and the effect on replacement rates in the C&I and
residential sectors have been reviewed. The growth of new housing, the
demographic trends of household size, and electrification ratios have been
researched and their implications assessed.

The most critical of all determinants at present is the move to advanced
metering. This lies outside the traditional pattern of drivers based on metrics
and single decisions or government legislation are decisive.

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/ce0468/multi_utility_mete

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Copyright Business Wire 2009