Vancouver-based Corix Utilities has won a US$100 million contract to provide electric meter installers for electric utility Southern California Edison.
Under the terms of the contract, Corix will hire, train and manage a staff of 150 union meter installers responsible for exchanging 4.5 million residential and small business meters that SCE operates in California.
The contract is a big win for the privately held Vancouver-based electricity and water utility services Corix Group of Companies that Kinder Morgan sold to BC Investment Management Corp. and private equity firm CAI Capital Management Inc. last year. The company has been making inroads in the California market in the past year. It recently acquired Edward S. Walsh Company, a California water products firm.
Corix's work is part of SCE's advanced electricity metering program, under which 5.3 million smart meters will be installed for residential and business customers using less than 200 kilowatts of electricity per year. The US$1.3 billion replacement program is expected to save the utility even more in electricity use from its customers.