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NORESCO Selected for Water Meter Infrastructure Upgrade in Commerce, Texas

BUSINESS WIRE, October 9, 2008 – WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Commerce, Texas, has contracted with NORESCO, a global leader in energy solutions and services, to implement a comprehensive upgrade of water meters in the city’s service area. The $2.3 million agreement includes new meter infrastructure with a fixed base automatic meter reading system to improve water system data collection and accuracy. Structured as a performance contract, the project will also include lighting system retrofits at selected facilities.

Under the performance contract, the City of Commerce will capture lost revenues and the cost of operational inefficiencies and redirect them to systems improvements. Infrastructure can be upgraded with new efficient technology without burdening taxpayers with rate increases, tax hikes, or expensive bonding.

The City of Commerce project will pay for itself over time through energy savings, operational improvements, and increased billable water and sewer revenues. Construction costs and performance of the efficiency measures are guaranteed by NORESCO.

“Our new water meters will have an estimated useful life of 30 years, but our payments for the new system will occur over 15 years,” said Marc Clayton, Director of Administrative Services for the City of Commerce. “Investment in an accurate state-of-the-art system is good for the citizens of Commerce. It supports our growth, and we’ll accomplish it with no interruption in service.”

Water meters are mechanical devices, and their ability to precisely measure water usage can decrease over time. With new meters, consumer and business customers are assured that usage is collected on a timely basis and that bills are an accurate and fair measure of usage. The integration of fixed base radio frequency networking with new meters will improve customer service through proactive monitoring of the water system. For example, the new system will be able to update account information from meters multiple times per day, which will accelerate leak detection and necessary repairs.

According to Bill Foster, Vice President of Sales at NORESCO, “Our project is based on the results of industry-specific surveys and statistical tests on the existing system. Besides construction, the scope includes employee training, the inventory of spare parts, and an annual performance verification of meter accuracy. We are honored that the City of Commerce has chosen NORESCO to gain the most benefit from the new system.”

NORESCO is one of the largest U.S. energy service companies specializing in the development, design, construction, financing, and operation of energy and environmental efficiency projects, performance contracting, and central energy plants. Its clients include various departments of the U.S. government, public housing agencies, school districts, universities, state and local governments, and industrial and commercial businesses. Over the past two decades, NORESCO has implemented more than $2.5 billion in energy projects at more than 2,000 sites throughout the U.S. and abroad.

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