Echelon Corporation’s Networked Energy Services (NES) smart grid system has won the European Smart Metering Innovation of the Year Award for 2012, which recognizes innovative smart metering solutions. The presentation took place at the Smart Metering UK and Europe Summit in London on January 26.

The judges, made up of European utilities and industry experts, said they chose Echelon for its work in redefining the role of a smart meter “to be a collector of valuable statistics essential for maintaining the operational health of the low voltage distribution network, in addition to its traditional role as an automated billing device.” Utilities can use these tools to reduce operational costs, improve consumer satisfaction, and prepare for renewable energy integration and other technologies.

Echelon’s senior vice president of Product Marketing and Management, Varun Nagaraj, says the company is “honored to receive the Innovation of the Year Award. We were among the earliest companies to recognize that our proven, open standard and multi-application platform could serve as the foundation for a diverse range of applications across the smart grid, such as meter reading, low voltage grid optimization, street lighting, and grid-aware buildings. We thank the judges for recognizing that Echelon is at the forefront of innovation in the smart grid.”

Echelon’s smart grid solution enables utilities to accurately collect billing data and health statistics from the low voltage grid with over 99 percent reliability. It is built on Echelon’s open standard, which is based on Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP), and multi-application platform. Each OSGP meter or grid device uses power line—or optional RF—signaling to communicate with its peers in a meshed network.

For more information on the European Smart Metering Award winners, visit http://www.smartmeteringuk2012.com/awards.html.

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