Landis+Gyr has signed a five-year agreement with Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) to provide an advanced metering and smart grid infrastructure.

The contract, which covers both operating utilities, includes 930,000 electricity meters and 300,000 gas modules, in addition to network equipment and software. Both utilities will deploy Swiss firm Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream Connect, which links the electric and gas metering infrastructure endpoints to an IoT network capable of supporting intelligent devices for managing energy distribution systems.

“Installing this technology across our customer base has been a goal of ours for some time and we’re pleased full deployment of advanced metering infrastructure was approved in June by the Kentucky Public Service Commission,” said David Huff, director of advanced meter initiatives at LG&E and KU. “Once installed and operational, this technology will enhance the safe, reliable service we provide our customers and will better enable them to save energy and money through access to their granular energy use.”

The Gridstream network provides utilities with the information and access needed for planning, maintenance and improving system reliability. Beyond energy consumption information, the network can interface with load management and analytics platforms to provide actionable intelligence for utility operations.

“Landis+Gyr is excited to be part of this grid modernisation effort and we look forward to implementing technology that enables the goals that LG&E and KU have defined for the future of energy in Kentucky,” said Prasanna Venkatesan, Landis+Gyr’s executive vice president for the Americas.

LG&E and KU are part of the PPL family of companies. The regulated utilities serve more than 1.3 million customers. LG&E serves 332,000 natural gas and 425,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 564,000 electric users in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia.

Landis+Gyr is a provider of integrated energy management for the utility sector. With sales of $1.4bn in 2020, it employs more than 5000 people in over 30 countries across five continents.