VSI Meter Services Awarded Kansas City Meter Automation Contract

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI [March 28, 2007] – VSI Meter Services, Inc. (VSI), announced today that it has been selected as the prime contractor for the City of Kansas City’s metering automation project. The project consists of the automation of approximately 160,000 water meters in the City’s service area with the Hexagram STAR Fixed Network System™. As prime contractor, VSI will be responsible for the timely and complete execution of the project and will provide all installation and project management services.

This project also includes Neptune water meters equipped with ProRead absolute encoder registers. Both the ProRead register and the Hexagram STAR System provide a solid foundation for improved efficiency and guaranteed meter reading system accuracy. The City will utilize the Hexagram Fixed Network system to obtain daily reads for all of the City’s water customers.

"The City of Kansas City Water Services Department is excited about the selection of VSI, Hexagram and Neptune for our automatic meter reading project to be called “THE WAVE”. With the implementation of this project, we will achieve greater customer satisfaction and a higher level of service to our customers,” stated Rob Thiemann, Project Manager, City of Kansas City, Missouri.

“This project demonstrates the importance the City of Kansas City places on their customers and their water resources. A fixed network automation project of this scope will enable the City to provide extremely high levels of service to their customers and provide them with the tools necessary to actively manage usage and the efficiency of the water system,” said David McGinley, Vice President of VSI Meter Services. “We are proud to be entrusted with the execution of this program.”

About the Companies:

The City of Kansas City provides safe drinking water and fire services to over one million people daily in 24 communities in the greater Kansas City area. With its commitment to providing clean drinking water and excellent customer satisfaction, Kansas City’s mission is to be THE leader of the water resources industry.

VSI Meter Services, Inc. specializes in meter reading, meter installation, AMR deployment projects, and related services. VSI is one of the largest metering services firms in the world, servicing utilities (water, electric and gas), AMR solution providers, and municipalities. VSI’s knowledge base, gained from the installation of nearly five million meters, is unsurpassed in the industry. VSI is a wholly owned subsidiary of UtiliCon Solutions, Ltd., an Asplundh Tree Expert Co. subsidiary. VSI is headquartered in Aston, Pennsylvania. For additional information, visit the company website at www.vsimeterservices.com.

Hexagram, Inc. is the leading supplier of fixed network AMR systems to the municipal and Investor Owned market, connecting to all varieties of water, gas, and electric meters. For more information, contact: Hexagram, Inc., 23905 Mercantile Road, Cleveland, OH 44122, 800-969-1057, Fax: 216-464-1783, www.hexagram.com.

ESCO, headquartered in St. Louis, is a proven supplier of special purpose communications systems for electric, gas and water utilities, including hardware and software to support advanced metering applications. In addition, the Company provides engineered filtration products to the transportation, health care and process markets worldwide and is the industry leader in RF shielding and EMC test products. Further information regarding ESCO and its subsidiaries is available on the Company’s website at www.escotechnologies.com.

Neptune Technology Group Inc., a pioneer in the development of Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology for nearly 40 years, is a leading provider of data collection systems under contract to read more than 46 million meters per month. Since 1892 Neptune has continually focused on the evolving needs of utilities — revenue optimization, operational efficiencies, and improved customer service. Neptune continues to broaden its focus beyond automatic meter reading and metering to include service orders and meter asset management and to extend this capability to electric and gas utilities. In 2003, Neptune acquired DB Microware, a developer of utility automation software for meter reading, service order management, and route optimization. Neptune provides utility automation software touching over 58 million connected customers throughout North America. For additional information, visit the company website at www.neptunetg.com.

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