SPOKANE, WA, June 10, 2005 ¿ Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today that the company shipped its 5 millionth automatic meter reading (AMR) endpoint for water meters this week, marking a significant milestone in its efforts to help water utilities and providers worldwide streamline operations, improve customer service and conserve precious water resources.
Itron's AMR endpoints, or "ERT modules" as they're called in the industry, are small radio frequency (RF) devices installed on water, electric, or gas meters that enable usage data to be collected remotely, accurately and more frequently via wireless communications.
The recipient of Itron's the 5 millionth water endpoint is Truckee Meadows Water Authority, (TMWA) based in Reno, NV. TMWA was formerly part of Sierra Pacific Power Company, a utility that had partnered with Itron for more than 20 years. When TMWA purchased Sierra Pacific Power Company's water division in June of 2001, the new company immediately began the installation of Itron AMR technology.
"In the last four years, we've installed Itron water ERTS on the majority of our water meters and seen significant savings," said Jack Robb, TMWA supervisor of field services. "The biggest help has come from Itron's Mobile Collector with GIS mapping¿the mapping system has provided us with greater efficiency in reading our routes, optimizing our drive time and distance and nearly eliminating the need for re-reads."
Truckee Meadows has installed between 68,000 to 70,000 water modules since upgrading to Itron's mobile AMR system and expects to deploy another 10,000 units before October of this year. Robb said his utility has seen a tremendous savings from reducing the number of utility workers reading meters¿from multiple contracted readers charging .53-cents per read, down to one meter reader, with an average cost of .15-cents per read. Robb said that cost will soon be reduced to .12-cents per read.
Itron continues to lead the market in meter automation technologies, both for the utility industry as a whole and water utilities in particular. According to the Scott Report for 2004, Itron held 30% of the water AMR market, while the closest two competitors held 17 and 16% respectively. The Scott Report is leading market research report on AMR technology deployment and trends.
In addition, Itron offers the broadest and most flexible portfolio of technologies, including AMR solutions such as radio-equipped handheld computers and mobile "drive-by" systems. Itron also offers more advanced data collection technology for water utilities with its Water Fixed Network, which enables more frequent, and on-demand reads, data logging and leak detection functionality. In addition, Itron AMR endpoints are compatible with water meters from all leading water meter manufacturers.
"This is a significant milestone in our company's history and it reflects the growing importance Itron's technology to the water industry," said LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron chairman and CEO. "Water utilities and municipalities throughout the U.S. and around the world are choosing Itron as their trusted partner and proven technology provider to reduce costs, provide better service and better manage precious water resources."
Truckee Meadows Water Authority was formed as a result of a collaboration of the Cities of Reno and Sparks and Washoe County. Company headquarters is located in Reno, although the water department covers the cities of Reno and Sparks.
Itron (www.itron.com) is a leading technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. Nearly 2,800 utilities worldwide rely on Itron's award-winning technology to provide the knowledge they require to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Itron creates value for its clients by providing industry-leading solutions for electricity metering; meter data collection; energy information management; demand response; load forecasting, analysis and consulting services; distribution system design and optimization; web-based workforce automation; and enterprise and residential energy management.
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