NSW’s Ausgrid taps into smart metering market with Active Stream acquisition

Ausgrid, the electricity distributor for Sydney and the surrounding area, has bought digital metering company Active Stream from AGL Energy.

It is the first major investment made since Ausgrid was moved into majority private ownership late last year, with some analysts speculating a purchase price of around $100mn.

Ausgrid CEO Richard Gross said: “Ausgrid is demonstrating its capabilities in the growing digital metering sector. We have a strong history in metering and significant track record of delivery as a metering provider.

“Ausgrid’s ambition is to be the metering service provider of choice to major and minor retailers, delivering high quality customer service at affordable rates. We look forward to a strong collaborative relationship with AGL delivering metering and other customer services.”

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Active Stream was established in 2015 to install digital meters ahead of the Power of Choice regulatory reforms which come into effect on 1 December.

The reforms are expected to drive significant growth as digital meters will be required for all new and replacement meters for small customers.

Ausgrid’s network covers 22,275 sq km with more than 200 large substations, 30,000 smaller substations and 500,000 pylons serving 1.7mn homes. It also manages around 50,000km of electricity cables.