Badger Meter Enters Alliance with DCSI.

MILWAUKEE -- Badger Meter, Inc. (AMEX:BMI) today announced it has signed an agreement with Distribution Control Systems, Inc. (DCSI), a subsidiary of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ESE), for the joint development, marketing, sales and licensing of a new automatic meter reading technology. By means of this agreement, Badger and DCSI will incorporate Badger Meter's ORION(R) AMR radio frequency technology with DCSI's TWACS(R) power line communication (PLC) product line for use in the North American utility markets. In most applications, the DCSI power line transponders will be "ORION ready," capable of receiving ORION radio frequency meter readings from water and gas meters of all manufacturers equipped with ORION transmitters.

According to Richard A. Meeusen, Badger Meter's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, utilities currently using the ORION mobile system will be able to communicate to the DCSI PLC product. "This provides Badger with another AMR solution to offer to our customers to meet their individual meter reading needs. We've learned that when it comes to AMR, there's no 'one size fits all' solution," said Meeusen.

For multi-service utilities, that is, electric combined with water and/or gas, DCSI can now provide a comprehensive AMR solution. The ORION AMR product may be installed on water and gas meters as a mobile AMR system and automatically converted to a network system as the DCSI integrated meter transponders are installed in electric meters.

"We are looking forward to working with Badger Meter in developing a solution to the challenge of integrating data from non-proximate water and gas meters into our power line carrier fixed network. This will extend and round out the TWACS short hop radio frequency system," stated Bob Richardson, Senior Vice President New Business Development for DCSI, "and will enable a utility to communicate with and collect demand reads from every meter site in their system - submerged or not."

"We are pleased to be working with DCSI and look forward to bringing this product to market in 2005. The utility industry has talked about migration of mobile AMR systems to fixed network AMR systems for years. It's now a reality," added Meeusen.

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 document, 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. The 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 towards more expensive, value-added automated meter reading (AMR) systems

--the success or failure of new Company products, including the Orion radio frequency mobile AMR system, the absolute digital encoder (ADE) and the proposed Galaxy fixed network AMR system

--changes in competitive pricing and bids in the marketplace, and particularly continued intense price competition on government bid contracts for lower cost, local read meters

--the actions (or lack thereof) of the Company's competitors

--the Company's relationships with its alliance partners, particularly its alliance partners that provide AMR connectivity solutions

--the general health of the United States economy, particularly including housing starts and the overall industrial activity

--changes in foreign economic conditions, including currency fluctuations such as the recent increase in the euro vis-a-vis the United States dollar

--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

--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.

Some or all of these factors are beyond the Company's control. 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 undertakes no obligation to publicly update 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.