An Almonte company's high tech electricity meters have been approved for use by Measurement Canada.

Triacta Power Technologies' PowerHawk 6320 Smart Meter System has recently been approved by the government agency for use as a billing device.

The company has already received more than $15 million worth of advance orders for the system and is waiting for the Ontario government to pass legislation to require that all multi-suite buildings to be individually metered. It is reported that there are more than one million condominium and apartment units in Ontario, but less than 25 per cent of these suites have their own electricity meter.

"The Triacta PowerHawk 6320 is designed to meter tenants in apartment buildings, condominiums, office towers and marinas," says director of marketing Jen Hassani. "Each PowerHawk meters up to 20 suites, but uses less wall space than a typical clipboard. It is ideal for use in buildings where owners wish to break out tenant electricity costs, but don't have the space to install traditional meters."

She says the system is also attracting attention from developers who want to lower construction costs by reducing the amount of space allocated to electrical rooms.

To help residents control their costs, the company provides web-based electricity consumption information in an easy to understand, graphical format. All meter information is collected through an automated meter reading system, using military-grade data encryption and stored in a centralized, secure data centre.