Vattenfall and TeliaSonera jointly revolutionize electricity metering in Finland

Vattenfall and TeliaSonera jointly revolutionize electricity metering in Finland Two years from now, all of Vattenfall's 360,000 network customers in Finland will have their electricity consumption metered in practically real time. The new TeliaSonera electricity metering system allows for automatic remote reading of the customer's electricity meter. In early spring 2005, trial installations will be made at 4,000 customers, and by May 2005, work will begin to install new electricity meters for all Vattenfall customers in Finland. Vattenfall and TeliaSonera Finland have concluded a comprehensive long-term cooperation agreement. According to the service agreement, TeliaSonera will be installing new intelligent electricity meters at Vattenfall's Finnish network customers and be responsible for the reading service based on a GSM modem, system maintenance and other functions related to the system. The agreement has been concluded for 15 years and the total contract value amounts to roughly 100 million Euro. Preliminary billing an issue of the past "In Sweden, we have started installing the first 150,000 remotely read meters. This agreement opens new, exciting perspectives for the future in Sweden, too, since in the Finnish model, Vattenfall purchases actual meter readings without having to own the meter, which is the case today. It is conceivable that this may also be an appropriate solution in Sweden," says Hans von Uthmann, Senior Executive Vice President and head of Vattenfall Nordic. The new electricity meter gives information on the customer's electricity consumption in virtually real time. So the present preliminary billing is definitely an issue of the past. In the future, all customers in the Vattenfall distribution regions will pay for their actual electricity consumption during each time interval, replacing preliminary invoicing. The new system offers opportunities for creating entirely new electricity services. "The new, intelligent meters will enable us to offer our customers quicker service in contractual matters, an opportunity to follow electricity consumption even hourly, and also simpler, more accurate bills," says Hans von Uthmann. "The intelligent meter records and, if required, gives accurate data concerning power cuts in our systems. This will enable us to develop the customer service further, also in the event of power cuts," he declares. Development of electricity network operation and electricity market The TeliaSonera system provides Vattenfall in Finland with more accurate information on the performance of the electricity network, such as accurate data on transmission losses. This information enables the work of developing and maintaining the electricity network to be more focused than in the past, and the efficiency of the network operations to be improved. The new metering system will substantially improve the performance of the Scandinavian electricity market. Accurate information provides better conditions for competition in electricity sales, since exact consumption information can be used instead of estimates. It will be possible to stop using the so-called profile metering for estimating the consumption. The electricity consumption will be measured accurately, even for private customers. The operating costs incurred by the new system will not be higher than the present methods, and prices will not be affected. The TeliaSonera system also performs well with the 30 000 remotely readable meters already installed by Vattenfall for apartment customers in Finland. New business area for TeliaSonera "TeliaSonera Finland is a market leader in machine communication services and integration of these services into comprehensive customer solutions, together with the company's partners. The electrical energy industry is one of our strong areas for such solutions, and the cooperation agreement with Vattenfall is the first step in this important industry. The agreement now concluded can serve as a model for many industries, and we are devoting long-term work to the development of the total service concept," emphasizes Anni Vepsäläinen, President TeliaSonera Finland. From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +46 8 739 50 10. For more information, please contact: Hans von Uthmann, Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Vattenfall Nordic, telephone +46 8 7395074. Karl-Erik Olsson, Press Officer, telephone +46 8 7397583. Vattenfall's vision is to be a leading European energy company. Vattenfall's main products are electricity and heat. Today, Vattenfall generates electricity, produces heat and supplies energy to several million customers in the Nordic countries and northern Europe. The major customers are industrial plants, energy companies, municipalities, property companies and housing associations. For further information, please see www.vattenfall.com. The media service section, including a picture archive and Vattenfall's press releases, can be found under News & Comments. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/10/11/20041008BIT20710/wkr0010.pdf