BusinessWeek highlights Itron in its 'Where to Invest in 2006' issue

SPOKANE, WA, Jan. 5, 2006 -- In its end-of-the-year investment issue, BusinessWeek Magazine has featured Itron Inc. as a growth company to watch in 2006 for "helping utilities stretch capacity."

Itron is the only metering technology and software company cited in the article, which focuses on America's aging infrastructure and the companies that are well positioned for growth as that infrastructure is rebuilt and modernized.

The article, which ran in the Dec. 26 issue of Business Week, was written by BusinessWeek's Atlanta bureau chief Dean Foust. The article stated that analysts recommend investing in Itron because of its ability to "help utilities save money by automating the process of meter reading," which can ultimately save energy and "gives utilities very good flexibility in maximizing their power generation."

With nearly 3,000 utility customers worldwide, Itron is the industry's leading provider of advanced metering systems, having shipped technology to automate data collection from more than 45 million electric, gas and water meters. Itron also provides a broad portfolio of software tools to the utility industry as well as companies and organizations that use large amounts of energy.

Itron (www.itron.com) is a leading technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. Nearly 3,000 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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