Exhibit 99.1
Badger Meter Awarded Contract for City of Chicago
$39.8 million contract is largest yet for company's ORION AMR
system
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2007--Badger Meter, Inc.
(AMEX: BMI) today announced it has received a contract to provide its
ORION(R) proprietary mobile radio frequency automatic meter reading
(AMR) system for 162,000 water meters in the city of Chicago. The
three-year contract is valued at approximately $39.8 million.
Badger Meter will serve as the prime contractor for the project to
retrofit the ORION system on approximately 80,000 existing residential
and commercial water meters and install new meters with the ORION
system at as many as 82,000 locations where existing meters will be
replaced because of the age of the meters. The city water department
staff will collect the meter readings via radio frequency by driving
down the street in a computer-equipped vehicle.
"Chicago is the largest city that has committed to ORION to date,
a strong indicator of the acceptance this popular, innovative and
award-winning product is receiving in the utility marketplace. The
contract builds on the relationship we have had with the Chicago
Department of Water Management for many years, and provides the
potential for Badger to become involved in the city's plans to
ultimately meter all of its locations," said Richard A. Meeusen,
chairman, president and chief executive officer of Badger Meter.
Meeusen said the city of Chicago will continue to use Badger
Meter's line of plastic water meters, which are as durable and
reliable as brass meters but are more economical given the recent
volatility in copper prices. "ORION is a proven system, with almost
1.5 million units currently installed. Shipments under the new
contract are expected to begin later in 2007," said Meeusen.
Badger Meter management will discuss the contract and answer
questions as part of its second quarter earnings release conference
call on Thursday, July 19, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. Central/11:00 a.m.
Eastern time. The call can be accessed on the Internet through the
company's web site: www.badgermeter.com or by dialing 1-866-831-6224
and entering the passcode 63116597.
ORION is a flexible AMR system that uses proprietary packaging and
combines sophisticated receiver, antenna and radio-frequency
transmission technology to collect information from the meter and
transmit it to the utility by simply driving down the street. ORION is
also compatible with networks that transmit meter readings using power
lines, existing networks or the latest WiFi technology.
About Badger Meter
Badger Meter is a leading marketer and manufacturer of flow
measurement and control technology, developed both internally and with
other companies, as well as the leader in providing digital
connectivity to leading AMR technologies. Its products are used to
measure and control the flow of liquids in a variety of applications.
Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as
other information provided from time to time by the Company or its
employees, may contain forward looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward looking statements. The words "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "expect," "think," "should" and "objective" or
similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking
statements. All such forward looking statements are based on the
Company's then current views and assumptions and involve risks and
uncertainties that include, among other things:
-- the continued shift in the Company's business from lower cost,
local read meters toward more expensive, value-added automatic
meter reading (AMR) systems;
-- the success or failure of newer Company products, including
the Orion(R) radio frequency AMR system, the absolute digital
encoder (ADE(TM)) and the Galaxy(R) fixed network AMR system;
-- changes in competitive pricing and bids in both the domestic
and foreign marketplaces, and particularly in continued
intense price competition on government bid contracts for
lower cost, local read meters;
-- the actions (or lack thereof) of the Company's competitors;
-- changes in the Company's relationships with its alliance
partners, primarily its alliance partners that provide AMR
connectivity solutions, and particularly those that sell
products that do or may compete with the Company's products;
-- changes in the general health of the United States and foreign
economies, including, to some extent, housing starts in the
United States and overall industrial activity;
-- increases in the cost and/or availability of needed raw
materials and parts, including recent increases in the cost of
brass housings as a result of increases in the commodity
prices for copper and zinc at the supplier level and resin as
a result of increases in petroleum and natural gas prices;
-- the ability of the Company to maximize the value of the
remaining assets in its discontinued French operations;
-- changes in foreign economic conditions, particularly currency
fluctuations between the United States dollar and the euro;
-- the loss of certain single-source suppliers; and
-- changes in laws and regulations, particularly laws dealing
with the use of lead (which can be used in the manufacture of
certain meters incorporating brass housings) and Federal
Communications Commission rules affecting the use and/or
licensing of radio frequencies necessary for AMR products.
All of these factors are beyond the Company's control to varying
degrees. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged
to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward looking
statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such
forward looking statements. The forward looking statements made in
this document are made only as of the date of this document and the
Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update
any such forward looking statements to reflect subsequent events or
circumstances.
Badger Meter company news is available 24 hours a day, on-line at:
http://www.badgermeter.com.
CONTACT: Badger Meter, Inc.
Joan C. Zimmer, (414) 371-5702