• Acquisition of Luxembourg-based Actaris will create an international company with more than 8,000 utility customers, expand Itron’s product offerings, and increase Itron’s access to global markets for electricity, gas and water meters and automated meter reading (AMR) technology.
• Combined company revenues and EBITDA in 2006 would have exceeded $1.6 billion and $274 million on a pro forma basis, respectively.
• Acquisition expected to be 20 to 30 cents accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share in 2007.
• Acquisition is fully financed and committed to by cash on hand, credit facilities provided by UBS and a $235 million private placement of equity, completed February 25, 2007.
• The purchase price is €800 million plus the retirement of approximately €445 million of debt, which, at an exchange rate of 1. 30, totals approximately $1.6 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2007.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Secure Works have partnered to offer Secure Works’ information security services to NRECA’s members at a discounted rate. This agreement gives NRECA members access to all of Secure Works’ managed security services at a 10 percent discount.
Secure Works is one of 60 organizations in NRECA’s National Discount Program designed to provide pre-negotiated discounts with leading service providers.
“We understand the cyber security risks that are threatening utilities, both large and small,” said Stephen R. Guth, Esq., executive director, vendor management office, NRECA. “We knew something needed to be done to help our members protect themselves against the very real cyber threats. We are pleased to partner with Secure Works, and we have confidence in their expertise and the services they provide.”
NRECA members can receive a 10 percent discount on all of Secure Works’ managed security services including management and monitoring of firewalls, network and host intrusion prevention, vulnerability scanning, encrypted e-mail and threat intelligence.
The northeastern ice storm of 1998 was catastrophic, damaging hundreds of kilometers of high-voltage transmission lines and towers. The storm hit parts of eastern Ontario, southern Quebec and Nova Scotia in Canada, and areas of northern New York all the way to southeast Maine in the United States. Millions were left in the dark for periods varying from days to weeks, leading to more than 30 fatalities. This was one of the worst ice storms in recorded history, and it cost big utilities such as Hydro-Québec millions of dollars in repairs.
As a preventive measure to what happened in January 1998, a de-icer project was launched. Hydro-Québec desired a system that would adapt to existing systems and transmission lines and perform the de-icing when required. Engineers designed the system such that it switches from static var compensator (SVC) mode to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) based de-icing mode in less than an hour where direct current runs through the lines. The SVC functions as a reactive power compensator to support the local network when not de-icing. Once the ice has melted, the transmission lines are reconnected to the grid.
Currently, the project has reached its implementation stage and once completed, will cover about 750kms of transmission lines in the province of Québec. On the long list of participants in this project are a leading international engineering firm, one of the largest utilities in Canada and one of the world’s largest
T&D companies. Electro Composites Inc. is also the participating company who supplied all the wall bushings for the project. Since the project had to meet high environmental standards, the obvious choice for bushings was epoxy based solid cast bushings that Electro has been making for the past 10 years. These units include both AC (72.5kV, 4000A) and DC (325kV BIL, 2000A) bushings.
Why did the de-icer project opt for solid cast insulation bushings as opposed to traditional OIP (oil impregnated paper) porcelain bushings? First, they are oil-free making them ideal for the horizontal applications required of them as wall bushings. No oil also makes transport, maintenance and handling easier. The time needed for stabilization prior to installation (usually 24 to 48 hours) is completely eliminated.
Second, the epoxy bushings are lighter in weight and have a shorter production time with little material wastage. Their advanced construction allows extended design possibilities. Solid cast insulation bushings are not a health hazard and are safer than OIPs as they are made from fire-retardant material and contain no polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Third, solid cast epoxy bushings are part of the new wave of clean-tech products on the market and are environmentally friendly.
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