Yesterday, Echelon (ELON) and ELO Sistemas Electronicos of Brazil announced an alliance to bring smart grid solutions to Latin America.  ELO Sistemas is Brazil’s largest supplier of electronic meters and is a reseller of Echelon’s NES smart grid system.  The announcement was made at the Smart Grid Latin America Forum in Brazil and is Echelon’s first foray into the Latin American region. 

Last month Brazil announced tentative plans for a nationwide rollout of smart meters to replace 63 million aging meters within the next 10+ years.  It will probably be a year or two before Echelon realizes any profit from Latin America deals, but this is a big first step. 

VP of ELO Marcos Rizzo commented on the alliance:

“We are excited to bring Echelon’s NES System to the Latin American market where we see a real need for the many advanced services and features of NES. Much more than a simple AMI system focused on billing related services, the NES System provides utilities with a wealth of information about the status, operation and health of the grid that enables them to reduce operating costs while increasing service quality.”