Duke Energy Corp picked Convergys Corp to provide billing and customer management solutions in support of the utility's smart grid initiative for its four million electric and gas customers in five states, the companies said in a release Tuesday.

Duke, which has a five-year, $1 billion plan for rolling out the smart grid, selected the Convergys Smart CIS Solution to deliver scalable real-time rating, dynamic billing, flexible account management and collections capabilities.

Officials at Convergys were not immediately available to say how much the company expects to make from the Duke contract.

Duke's smart grid plan includes automated equipment, wireless sensing devices and advanced meters providing two-way communication between Duke and its customers, empowering the utility and consumers to better manage and reduce energy use.

Convergys, of Cincinnati, Ohio, provides relationship, outsourced customer and human resources management solutions, billing, consulting and professional services and technology solutions.

Duke, of Charlotte, North Carolina, owns and operates about 39,000 MW of generating capacity in North America and Latin America, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to about 4 million U.S. customers in the Carolinas and the Midwest.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Christian Wiessner)

Energy