E:SO Launches New Home Energy Management System, Giving Consumers Unprecedented Control Over Energy Use and Spending

Innovative E:SO EMS solution for energy retailers & utilities allows consumers to

automatically manage in-home energy consumption & lower monthly bills

Alpharetta, Georgia, USA (March 22, 2009)— E:SO^SM, a new division of global energy billing and metering provider ista International, today announced the initial rollout of its next-generation Energy Management System (EMS). Designed to work seamlessly with home automation devices and systems, the E:SO EMS^SM platform, powered by ista|net^SM, enables energy retailers and utilities to provide residential customers with unprecedented visibility into – and real-time control over – their home energy consumption and monthly bills.

“The E:SO EMS platform presents consumers with the precise usage information and awareness they need to manage their daily energy consumption in the most cost-effective way possible,” said E:SO chief executive officer Ruediger Neubauer. “No other system intelligently tracks your in-home energy usage for instant visual analysis and decision-making. And no other system allows you to take immediate steps – automatically or manually based on your preferences – to conserve energy and cut costs based on that analysis. Not only can the E:SO EMS platform do all that for you, but it can start doing that even before you receive your next energy bill.”

The E:SO EMS Portal^SM dashboard provides a Web-based customer control screen that visually displays actual daily and monthly home energy usage and costs in several user-friendly formats. These show the consumer how much energy is being used by major home appliances in the home automation network – from computers, HDTV’s and entertainment centers to lighting and home heating/cooling systems.

In addition, the E:SO EMS Energy Plan Wizard^SM feature allows each customer to accurately develop their customized monthly energy plan and budget based on an extensive array of specific home and family attributes, including lifestyle and historical usage patterns. When a homeowner is at risk of exceeding their preset limits, the system recommends simple automated steps to adjust usage and conserve energy, showing an estimate of how much each action could save them on their monthly bill.

The E:SO EMS platform can be preset to automatically conserve energy during the most costly peak demand periods, without significantly imposing on lifestyle and family comfort levels. If manual control is preferred, the system can alert homeowners – via email or text message – prompting them to adjust their settings remotely and securely from any Internet browser anywhere in the world.

E:SO EMS Energy Plan Review™ screen then shows how well a customer’s plan is working by comparing it against their actual usage and billing, with handy comparisons to previous bills (e.g. same month, previous year) as well as an average baseline for similar homes. It can also include a “shadow” billing and reconciliation feature allowing customers to verify the accuracy of the meter reads and charges on their energy bill, helping eliminate billing errors and overcharges.

“Only E:SO brings all your in-home energy consumption, metering and billing data together in one place for easy visual analysis and budget management,” added Neubauer. “And only the E:SO EMS platform gives consumers real visibility, awareness and control of their energy usage and savings to help them consistently stay on or under budget. We envision that higher-volume energy consumers could achieve a savings of up to 20 percent or more of their monthly usage, providing a reduction of their carbon footprint, while potentially saving money and enjoying the benefits of home automation with effectively little out-of-pocket expense.”

The E:SO EMS platform can be private-labeled under the retailer or utility brand name, then offered to consumers for a nominal monthly service fee included in their bill. The platform is able to use all major home automation protocols.  In addition to bringing an innovative new customer service offering to energy-conscious consumers, it can help utilities achieve their own demand response goals quickly and cost-effectively.

The E:SO EMS platform rollout for residential consumers will occur in three phases. Phase I, currently underway, is the initial rollout in a targeted group of US states, including Texas’s ERCOT market. Phase II will expand to additional states with active competitive retail energy markets. Phase III will include general availability on a nationwide basis. Plans are also underway to support small to mid-sized businesses in the near future.

About E:SO

E:SO^SM is an innovative global division of ista International GmbH, a world leader in consumption-based energy billing, metering and energy cost management. E:SO empowers the energy commerce market – retailers, wholesalers, utilities, and commercial and residential consumers – with superior energy commerce applications via its flagship ista|net^SM platform.  ista|net enables a new generation of services by combining traditional power grid energy networks with modern information networks into the new Energy Information Network^SM.  Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, USA, E:SO currently services more than three million meter points worldwide. More information about E:SO is available at www.eso-global.com.