Consumers Energy's Home Energy Analyzer Employs Software From Aclara to Help Customers Understand Power and Gas Usage

WELLESLEY, Mass., Oct. 21  /PRNewswire/ -- Aclara, part of the Utility Solutions Group of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE) and a leader in Intelligent Infrastructure(TM) solutions for utilities, announced today that Consumers Energy, one of the country's largest combination utilities, employs Aclara's web-based ENERGYprism® software in its recently launched Home Energy Analyzer application.

"We believe that Consumers Energy's use of ENERGYprism as the foundation of its Home Energy Analyzer is a testament to the flexibility and scalability of Aclara's software applications," said David Zabetakis, General Manager of Aclara Software Inc. "It took our team only two months to set up the application and make it available to over 2.7 million residential customers."

Customers of Consumers Energy who log into the graphics-rich environment of Home Energy Analyzer provide information about the size of their homes, the number of people in their households, and the appliances they use. They then are presented with average costs for each appliance and can see how their usage compares with that of other customers. In addition, customers' total power and gas usage are displayed in pie charts, allowing them to quickly determine how much they are spending for heating, air conditioning, lighting, and other uses.

"The Home Energy Analyzer tool will complement our existing portfolio of residential energy efficiency programs, which are designed to help customers take a more proactive approach in controlling their power and natural gas use," said Ted Ykimoff, program manager for the project. "We're focused on working with customers and helping them to get more information about how their homes use energy.  The more information that customers have, the more likely they'll choose to invest in products that will help them save energy and save money."

The Home Energy Analyzer is available at the Consumers Energy Web site:  http://www.consumersenergy.com/. Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS), provides electric and natural gas service to nearly 6.5 million of Michigan's 10 million residents, in all 68 counties of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

About Aclara

The Aclara brand represents the industry's leading Intelligent Infrastructure(TM) technologies for providing device networking, data-value management, and customer communications to water, gas, and electric utilities globally. Over 500 utilities in nine countries rely on proven Aclara solutions to connect with their customers. Aclara is part of the Utility Solutions Group of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE), St. Louis. http://www.aclara.com/. 

DATASOURCE: Aclara



CONTACT:  Nancy E. Talley, Marketing Communications Manager of Aclara,

[phone], 



Web Site:  http://www.consumersenergy.com/

http://www.aclara.com/ 

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