Blog Custom

It has been brought to our attention that some of our customers have not been receiving Itron Utility Week emails. Itron uses Cvent to send invitations and take online registrations for Itron Utility Week. These emails are sent only to addresses that have requested communication from Itron. In…

The Itron Utility Week board of directors recently gained two new members: Bob Sitkauskas, manager of AMI for DTE Energy’s Major Enterprise Project organization, and Brad Long, senior data translation specialist with Puget Sound Energy’s Meter Data Integrity team. Itron Utility Week is the utility…

Registration Is Open You still have time to learn from and collaborate with Itron employees, partners and industry leaders to drive better management of energy and water resources. Learn more Bringing a Guest to Orlando? If you are bringing a guest to the Knowledge Conference, make sure they don’t…

  Itron Utility Week brings together nearly 1,000 industry experts from some of the largest utility companies in the U.S. to talk about trends and challenges, as well as share best practices. Rapidly growing populations, aging infrastructure, government mandates, new alternative energy…

  Join us for an exclusive media briefing. In the streaming broadcast, Itron executives will unveil the latest company news and developments. In addition, key customers will offer updates on large projects and partners will discuss future initiatives. Details Itron Webcast Media Briefing…

KEYNOTE Itron Utility Week opens tomorrow with an exciting keynote from Dr. Michael Even Webber, of the Webber Energy Group. A regular contributor to various energy policy and research institutes, as well as an associate professor at UT-Austin, Webber will speak about the interdependence of energy…

The Itron Utility Week Knowledge Center opened this afternoon to the familiar sound of fun and laughter. As we write, customers are getting their first look at the expansive hall, the biggest ever. A group of customers have already been here since Friday, when the pre-conference training began.…

As the more than 1,000 attendees flooded into the Hyatt Regency (formerly Peabody) Orlando on Sunday, Itron Utility Week started to take shape. Utilities from all over North America, and even some select international guests, showed just how diverse the group is. Investor owned, municipal, co-op;…

Our Nissan Leaf is an exciting addition to the Knowledge Center. One can’t help but hop in and see what the future of transportation holds. “Cool” was the most common utterance from passerbys. Next to the Leaf is a Clipper Creek charging station with embedded Itron communications and metrology,…

The general session opened with addresses from Philip Mezey, Itron’s president and CEO, and Sharelynn Moore, vice president, corporate marketing and public affairs. This year’s theme, Be Resourceful, ran throughout the presentation. The theme focuses on the idea that we must collectively learn to…

The whole Itron portfolio. The dedicated people who helped create it. The customers who use it at work to manage energy and water. All in one place. That’s the Knowledge Center. The Knowledge Center is a gathering place for anyone seeking information about Itron products and solutions. A casual…

Ahead of his keynote address, we met with the Itron Utility Week keynote speaker, Dr. Michael Evan Webber, to dive a little deeper into how the energy-water nexus impacts the utility industry. His answers surprised, challenged and encouraged us. In his keynote address, Dr. Webber wowed the…

The beach bash was a blast. The band rocked. Costumes abounded. Dance moves gave way to late-night laughs.   On Deck for Tuesday A number of exciting presenters and presentations will take place Tuesday. The day kicks off with two keynote speakers. Mike Tinskey, Ford’s director, global…

Mike Tinskey, director, global vehicle electrification and infrastructure, talked electric vehicles this morning. Here’s the gist of his keynote: Ford’s electric vehicles have driven 30 million miles. Electric motors are 90 percent efficient. Electric has a 4x advantage over conventional gas…

Big Brother, Hackers and the Smart Grid Smart grid, AMI and interval data has caused, according to Tim Wolf, Itron’s director of marketing for smart grid, a “data explosion.” That has aroused concerns and controversy over data security and data privacy. Yet the industry is already employing best…

Two new ways to utilize AMI networks and data to extract more value out of existing assets. To complement Itron’s new 100T-CP Cathodic Protection Module, which monitors pipeline integrity and transmits over Itron’s Fixed Network, a new cathodic protection module has been added to the Itron…

Itron Utility Week closed with great fanfare. Attendees exited the last sessions of the day and flooded into the nearby convention hall to watch a time-lapse recap of the entire event. Itron’s Sharelynn Moore, vice president, corporate marketing and public affairs, thanked IUW attendees for their…

Itron Utility Week is Itron’s annual customer event where gas, water and electric utility customers meet to discuss emerging trends and share best practices. Rapidly growing populations, aging infrastructure, expanding government mandates, new alternative energy sources and a new breed of engaged…

Welcome to Itron’s Forecasting Blog dedicated to energy forecasting related discussions and ideas. For over 30 years, Itron has worked with electric and natural gas clients across North America, Europe and Australia to improve the precision of both short- and long-term forecasting models. With the…

Working in the energy industry puts a big target on your chest when it comes to solar leasing deals. In the span of weeks, I have had several friends approach me asking whether they should sign up for a solar panel lease deal from a local company. With this new assignment, I sharpened my pencil…

Comparing multiple economic drivers in MetrixND can be difficult when the data series are developed in different units. Employment, reported in people, compared to GDP, reported in dollars, can wreak havoc on a graph and present useless information. When using the Graph Object as shown below, the…

Itron is proud to continue hosting the popular hour-long internet seminars covering a range of forecasting topics. Itron is always at the forefront of the energy forecasting field. We are helping our customers around the world understand the complexities of energy forecasting and talking about the…

Next week Itron hosts the 12th Annual Energy Forecasting Meeting at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. On April 2-3, 2014, over 50 forecasters from across North America will gather to discuss changes in the energy efficiency, economic drivers, weather normalization practices and forecast model…

                          It’s been a couple weeks since the 12th Annual Energy Forecasting Meeting taking place April 2-3, 2014. As I reflect on the two days spent discussing energy trends, weather normalization, and forecasting…

Installed solar generation capacity is growing worldwide and this movement’s effect on load forecasts is significant. Energy service providers and electricity market operators are striving to understand how solar generation impacts their short- and long-term load forecasts. Itron is at the…

In a trend of ever-expanding urban centers, more than half of the world’s population now lives in towns and cities for the first time in history. As city populations grow, the demand for city services increases, putting a particular strain on energy and water. Energy and water resources are…

How do cities create greater opportunity for their residents? In two words, innovation and collaboration. With the world’s population reaching 8 billion by 2025 and more than half of all people living in the world’s cities, the way we manage energy and water will define this century. If you think…

Gas utilities around the world face a complex mix of new challenges. The emergence of new gas sources, rising customer expectations for information and service, an ongoing focus on identifying and eliminating non-revenue gas, a renewed need for improvements in operational efficiency—the list goes…

Meeting Highlights Issues and Solutions for ISOs and RTOs At the start of May, over 20 representatives from 11 different U.S. and Canadian Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) met to discuss common issues associated with forecasting electricity demand.…

Achieving greater sustainability – in the economic, social and environmental realms– is possible when we connect people, process, data and things in new and amazing ways. Amazing things happen when you connect the unconnected. A more seamless world is possible when the data streaming through and…

As of 2013, all electric vehicles are considerably more expensive than hybrid-electric vehicles, not to mention gasoline-powered cars.  However, the status quo is quickly changing as batteries are becoming cheaper and more efficient.  Range anxiety concerns are lessening as battery swapping, rapid…

Every day, between 10 and 30 percent of water pumped is lost or unaccounted for. Known as non-revenue water (NRW), this lost water costs utilities a lot – not only in water, but in energy. A water utility’s energy expenditure can exceed 65 percent of its annual budget, according to Frost &…

I recently reviewed a customer’s monthly weather normalization model. The regression model included cooling degree days (CDD), heating degree days (HDD), and a few other minor variables. The monthly CDD and HDD variables were summed from the daily CDD and HDD variables, which were calculated from…

Over the past few years there has been increased interest in using technologies currently deployed in smart grids for Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. The combination of the technology’s high performance, low cost and high level of security and the use of standards makes it an excellent…

One of our forecasting clients, ERCOT, is looking for a forecasting planning analyst. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to 24 million Texas customers - representing 85 percent of the state's electric load. As the independent system operator for the…

Itron recently announced that it intends to use Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform for Itron Analytics. The cloud computing and infrastructure platform will provide a secure, reliable and cost-effective option for hosting Itron Analytics, Itron’s analytic application that harnesses the…

Getting a handle on overall grid reliability and outage trends for the entire U.S. is challenging. Despite generally high reliability numbers, power outages are occurring more frequently with estimates noting that outages cost the U.S. economy $150 billion per year. They’re also affecting more…

Today Itron President and CEO Philip Mezey provided a guest blog post to The Hill Newspaper. In his post, Mezey shares ways the Ex-Im Bank and similar development finance agencies support U.S. private investment that is a great aid to the African continent, which faces tremendous challenges as well…

Just the other day, I saw a news article that raised the question of whether utilities' sales are trending up. Considering the reports from EIA and other agencies indicating flat sales, the headline caught my attention. As a forecaster who helps utilities peer into the future, I am very interested…

Itron's Russ Vanos is a featured author in the most recent addition of The Annual, a Meeting of the Minds publication highlighting key blog posts published over the course of the last year. Vanos' article, Economic Development Through Innovation, Collaboration & Smart Grid Technology explores…

I stumbled across the first MetrixND newsletter today. In July 1998, Regional Economic Research (RER) was preparing users for the MetrixND 1.2 release, setting up a MetrixND training class and forming a user’s group. In many ways, life is the same today as it was in 1998. I still go to work, drink…

    Itron Riva’s edge intelligence enables easy integration of third-party devices and real-time decision-making capabilities while creating numerous possibilities for realizing the promise of the Internet of Things (IoT) to empower smarter utilities and smarter cities worldwide. Action…

Not able to attend Itron Utility Week in person? Greentech Media is streaming Monday and Tuesday's general sessions as well as two key breakout sessions. Sign up here to watch the live coverage! Livestreaming Schedule Monday, October 20  8:00-9:30am CT: Opening General Session- Scott Klososky,…

Today's guest blog post is from Dean Schiller, CEO CEIVA Energy We’re entering a new era of the smart grid. Itron has spent years working with utilities, municipalities and energy consumers to lay the groundwork of consumer energy engagement by deploying nearly 16 million electric smart meters…

Itron Utility Week’s Knowledge Conference kicked off this morning with an exciting announcement. Today, we launched a new Itron solution – Smart Load Control – which is based on Itron Riva Edge Intelligence Platform. The Smart Load Control solution features IP-based switches that communicate to…

Itron Utility Week’s Knowledge Conference is in full swing, and during one of our morning sessions, we heard from Rusty Cunningham, meter services manager at Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG) and Southern Connecticut Gas Company (SCG). Rusty discussed his customer experience with Itron® Total AMI,…

As part of IUW, Itron experts and partners are exhibiting multiple technologies at the Knowledge Center. We spoke with John Knuth regarding Itron’s Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. As electric vehicles (EV) gain popularity, smart cities will be filled with charging stations that have to work…

Becca Jones and Roberto Aiello from Itron walked us through how Itron technology is helping to shape the smart cities of the future. Itron enables smart cities to use information and communications technology to enhance livability, workability and sustainability. By accessing information and data…

More of the world’s population lives in urban areas than ever before. As city populations grow, the demand for services increases and officials are tasked with creating smart, sustainable cities that offer high-quality living. This demand puts a strain on energy and water, which are foundational to…

The Itron Analytics solution encompasses products and services designed to turn data into faster, more informed and increasingly automated decision-making. In the conference Knowledge Center, Jeff Owen from Itron discussed the latest updates for Itron’s water and gas analytics. Itron’s analytics…

Technology innovation is occurring at an exponential rate and new technologies promise huge benefits for utilities’ business operations. This morning, Roberto Aiello, an Itron technology advisor, walked us through the latest technologies and upcoming developments for the industry. Roberto noted…

In the Knowledge Center, Kevin Alishouse discussed Itron’s Gas Telemetry product portfolio. At this year’s conference we’re showing two commercially available products, 100T-CP Cathodic Protection Telemetry Module and the 100T-HON Telemetry Module. The 100T-CP was developed in cooperation with the…

In our ever-connected world, customers are demanding more technology and information to give them understanding and control of their energy usage. In response to this demand, National Grid implemented a smart grid pilot, known as the Smart Energy Solutions Program which utilizes Itron’s OpenWay…

Live streaming from San Antonio this afternoon, Amy Aussieker, executive director of Envision Charlotte, discussed how the Envision Charlotte smart city project is fostering innovation and developing a first-of-its kind program to better manage energy and water. Driven by the trends of accelerated…

After 12 years on the West Coast, the Annual Energy Forecasting/EFG Meeting and Training is moving east! The 13th Annual Meeting will be in Baltimore, Maryland on May 6-7, 2015 with optional one-day training workshops on May 5. Forecasters continue to tell Itron that there is no greater value than…

Seattle Business magazine honored Itron among the region’s most influential community leaders on October 22, 2014, at the inaugural Community Impact Awards. A sold-out crowd of more than 270 guests at the Museum of History and Industry celebrated 24 honorees in categories ranging from…

Exhibitions and sessions at the upcoming European Utility Week will highlight new demands for a sustainable future and offer the biggest smart utility meeting place yet! The Smart Cities Council is working with cities around the world to create a roadmap for innovation, collaboration and resource…

  As my eyes wandered through the Knowledge Center at this year’s recent Itron Utility Week (IUW), I was captivated by the future. Stretching from one end of the floor to the other were a mix of Itron products, solutions and partner displays. I could have stopped and discussed meters or fixed…

It’s 3 p.m. on a warm summer San Diego afternoon. My south facing windows are hot to the touch, but the building air conditioning units efficiently maintain a comfortable temperature. Nevertheless, it’s now time to stretch my legs and breathe some fresh air. I exit the front door of the building…

Last month we held our Fundamentals of Sales and Demand Forecasting workshop in Boston. It was a great turn out with 15 forecasters from across the country - from California to Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. This hands-on MetrixND workshop covers building sales and weather normalization…

With Christmas rapidly approaching and neighborhoods throughout North America intricately decorated with a variety of Christmas lights, I can’t help but ponder how many folks are using LED Christmas lights, and whether or not I can identify an LED set from an incandescent as I stroll down the…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  Last year, I wrote a blog post highlighting the differences between demand response (DR) and home energy reporting, and how to deliver real value to…

Air source heat pumps were once predominately found in the warmer southern regions of the U.S. where temperatures infrequently drop below freezing. These units did a good job of removing heat from a house in the summer and a fairly good job of extracting heat from the outside air in the winter, as…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  As consumers, we are all becoming more engaged in our energy management and as a result, electric utilities are increasingly looking for ways to…

Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and decreasing costs of photovoltaics (PV) are resulting in significant amounts of solar PV systems being installed in California. Current load forecasting methods often fail to address the growing uncertainty in net load (demand for power less…

DistribuTECH 2015 kicked off this morning and during the opening session, we heard from Itron President and CEO Philip Mezey about waste and resourcefulness within the utility industry. As the world’s population continues to grow, increasing resource usage, it is important for everyone –…

As the world becomes increasingly more connected, continual communication and access to data are becoming more important. In response to this need, we recently launched a new 4G LTE smart metering solution, which will deliver improved connectivity for smart grid applications. The solution, which…

This afternoon at DistribuTECH 2015, Itron celebrated our Frost & Sullivan 2014 North American Smart City Company of the Year Award with an award presentation and reception. Frost & Sullivan Principal Consultant Farah Saeed presented the award to Russ Vanos, Itron’s senior vice president,…

At the Itron Utility Week 2014 Conference, I reported on Itron’s foray into the Internet of Things (IoT) with the new Riva platform. Now that I am aware of the IoT, I see it everywhere in the media. In January, Samsung’s CEO stated at the 2015 Consumers Electronic Show (CES) that 90 percent of…

Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona During the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Sharelynn Moore, Itron's vice president of corporate marketing and public affairs, discussed Itron's participation in Microsoft CityNext, a global initiative empowering cities, businesses and…

Itron and Envision Charlotte recently hosted a conversation about the role technology and collaboration play in driving urban modernization and results. Envision Charlotte’s story is an example of a private-public partnership at its best. Over the last few years, Envision Charlotte has brought…

Recently, I was invited to speak at the Utility Variable Generation Integration Group (UVIG) Conference, which was focused on improving the integration of variable generation into the electric power system. UVIG was established in 1989 and currently has more than 160 members from the U.S., Canada,…

For more than 10 years, Itron has conducted its popular hour-long internet brown bag seminars on a range of forecasting topics. Itron has always been at the forefront of the energy forecasting field. We help our customers around the world understand the complexities of energy forecasting and talk…

On Tuesday, March 24, we held our first brown bag seminar of the year, “Comparison of Peak Forecasting Methods,” which provided an overview of peak forecasting methods and thoughts on ways to structure stronger peak forecasting models. Modeling peak demand is an important topic and we felt it was a…

Incisor IoT Article Incisor Magazine recently published an article by Itron’s Roberto Aiello about the Internet of Things (IoT) and moving from simple connections to real-time actions. In the article, Aiello explores what is at the heart of IoT from sensors and networks to plug and play devices.…

I just returned from Itron’s 13th Annual Energy Forecasting Meeting & Training, which took place in Baltimore on May 6 and 7, 2015.  A total of 57 attendees participated from 42 companies.  For the two days, Baltimore treated us with outstanding hospitality and a beauty hidden from recent media…

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) Annual Conference & Exposition recently took place in sunny California. Approximately 11,500 water professionals descended upon the Anaheim Convention Center to learn about the latest water technologies and network with their industry peers. Within…

  I’m developing a forecast that requires base, high, and low scenarios.  After building the base scenario, the high and low scenarios are created by duplicating the base scenario process, changing the tables names from “Base” to “High” or “Low” and updating the equations.  The result is a…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  Six minutes per year. You've seen the figure quoted in PowerPoint presentations and news stories, and heard it mentioned in conversations at…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  This week, Navigant Research issued a new report entitled "Navigant Research Leaderboard Report: Demand Response" that assessed 13 leading demand…

Itron’s forecasting group is currently conducting an Electric Peak Load Modeling Survey. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about methods used to forecast and weather adjust system peak loads. All survey participants will receive a summary report. Utility specific data will NOT be…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  Earlier this month, J.D. Power released its 2015 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study-the 17th annual edition. This year's report…

One of our forecasting clients, EKPC, is looking for a load forecast analyst. East Kentucky Power has an opening for a Load Forecast Analyst in our Winchester, Kentucky Headquarters.  EKPC is located 15 minutes from beautiful Lexington, Kentucky, which is home to Keeneland Race Track and the…

Cities and utilities across the country are facing a broad range of pressing problems and considering how to best navigate and utilize technology for a smarter, more sustainable and more resourceful city framework. First introduced at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Sept. 2010, the…

One of our forecasting clients, Central Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (CEPCI) is seeking a Senior Economist with load forecasting duties. Experience with the Itron Metrix forecasting software is highly desired. Located in Columbia, South Carolina, CEPCI is a Generation and Transmission…

  Nighthawk’s new CCU960 Cellular AMI Capacitor Bank controller plugs into any standard capacitor bank controller socket.  It provides an affordable upgrade for advanced distribution automation technology and is meant to be a plug-in replacement for older pager based or manual control boxes.…

Utilities are facing tremendous uncertainty as the consumerization of energy drives a transformation of their business.  The key to thriving in this uncertainty is Agility. And at Siemens Digital Grid, we enable utility agility with solutions proven in our installed base of over 1.4 million digital…

  It’s day two of the Knowledge Conference at one of the year’s most anticipated events – Itron Utility Week. Utility industry observers have been talking about the perfect storm brewing. It’s a coming together of aging infrastructure, distributed energy resources, changing customer…

Itron Utility Week 2015 kicked off this morning with a great general session! We hope you had a chance to watch the livestream, but if you weren’t able to join us, you can learn more about additional livestreamed sessions here. During one of our first breakout sessions of the morning, we caught up…

This afternoon we attended an Itron Utility Week breakout session with Tracy Tinsley, project manager, information management, at Duke Energy. Tinsley discussed how Duke Energy continues to make progress with its implementation of smart grid technology while making the business case to justify the…

This afternoon, we caught up with Todd Tucker, senior director of solutions marketing at Itron, to learn more about ITRON RIVA™, the new edge intelligence platform that supports sensing technologies and dynamic applications at the device level. Todd let us know that Itron Riva has four key…

This year, we added new Big Picture sessions to the Itron Utility Week line up. The thought-provoking sessions were led by industry leaders and focused on technology trends and business drivers shaping utilities of the future. We planned these sessions to encourage audience participation and…

The second Big Picture Session we attended today was “Don’t Show Me Big Data, Show Me the Right Data.” The session was moderated by Jill Feblowitz, vice president, IDC Energy Insights and the industry expert panelists included, Brent Williams, director analytics, Black & Veatch, Todd Inlander,…

This afternoon we spoke with Itron’s Bryan Seal and Jeff Simmelink in the Knowledge Center to learn more about Itron® Total Services and our solar monitoring solution. Itron Total Services launched last year and is a fully managed solution including metering, communication, data management and…

If you follow Itron’s forecasting work, you know that we’ve employed Statistically Adjusted End Use (SAE) models since the early 2000’s.  To date, almost 60 companies across North America use the SAE models.  These models are applied to both internal company forecasts and external regulatory…

The need to apply technology to solve real challenges in our communities is growing. Cities and utilities across the country are facing a broad range of pressing problems and exploring how to best navigate and utilize technology for a smarter, more sustainable and more resourceful city framework.…

Mark your calendars for 14th Annual Energy Forecasting Meeting & Training.  We’ll be in Scottsdale, Arizona at the W Hotel on May 17-20.  There will be two optional workshops to choose from on Tuesday (either beginning or advanced SAE).  And the meeting will be two and half days this year,…

In the developing age of the Internet of Things (IoT), we must stay attune to emerging technologies and industry transformations. What if real IoT value comes not from the ability to connect devices, but from taking action with little human intervention? How will we harness IoT technology to better…

One of our forecasting clients, CPS Energy located in San Antonio, Texas is looking for two Data Scientist positions as Market Analytics Program Managers. For more information on both positions go to:  http://www.indeed.com/cmp/CPS-Energy/jobs/Data-Scientist-98b7e494c98a196b?q=data+scientists…

My desire to make popcorn for the evening of binge watching came to a sudden halt when the microwave door latch stuck.  Undeterred by this setback, I put on my repairman cap, opened my toolbox, prepared to open the appliance.  Within minutes, I ran into some odd looking screws – not the typical…

It’s day three of the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and as always it’s living up to the hype. From cool innovations in drones and car concepts to wearables and e-shopping, everything you would expect to be here is here. But, I find the unexpected to be even more intriguing and what I’ve seen…

Itron, a world-leading technology and services company dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water, is pleased to be among the partner companies lending expertise to 10 participating communities over a three-day workshop in Charlotte next week. Envision America is a new national initiative…

Recently, a utilities regulator tried replicating a client’s regression model used for forecasting customer growth. The regulator wished to build the regression model from scratch, and so the client explained what variables were used, including an autocorrelation correction term of order 1. The…

Interested in learning about the latest energy forecasting accuracy trends? Itron has been collecting information on industry growth expectations and forecast accuracy for electricity and natural gas for the last several years. Join us for our first brown bag of the year on Thursday, Feb. 18 at…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  The utility industry, like many industries, is currently undergoing a data revolution. Metering infrastructure is dramatically improving, data…

I love straight lines. After all, the fastest route between any two points is a straight line. But in forecasting, going from point A to point B isn’t always as straightforward as we imagine. There are two ways to capture long-term growth in electric sales. The best way is to correlate growth with…

Utility companies have long been the pillars of our communities, linked with the prosperity of nations, serving as an engine of commerce and enabling significant quality of life improvements. Now, more than ever, utilities are at the forefront of a modernization movement to provide safe and…

I think of MetrixLT as a fancy load shape manipulator and calculator. While the software was originally designed to calibrate load shapes to monthly energy forecasts, newer features of MetrixLT allow users to calculate normal weather (including Rank and Average methods), add and subtract load…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  As I outlined in my first blog post, Comverge's cybersecurity approach is based on a Defense in Depth strategy that includes a security-aware systems…

One of our forecasting clients, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is hiring for two forecasting specialist positions. For more information on the positions go to: Enterprise Forecasting Specialist I Enterprise Forecasting Senior Specialist

From May 18 to 20, 62 energy forecasters representing 42 companies from across North America gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss the latest issues in energy forecasting.  The meeting included two pre-conference workshops focused on the Statistically Adjusted End-Use modeling technique at…

Since 2005, Itron has conducted its popular hour-long Internet brown bag seminars on a range of forecasting topics. Itron is always at the forefront of the energy forecasting field. We help our customers around the world understand the complexities of energy forecasting and talk about the latest…

In this last forecasting brown bag presentation on solar load forecasting, we asked participants who had developed a long-term solar load forecast before 2013 and after 2015. As expected, very few had done a forecast before 2013 and majority put together something after 2015. During the last…

Resourcefulness isn’t just our mission – it’s in our DNA. It is more than a mantra, it’s a passion, and we aim to inspire and educate others to join in creating a more resourceful world. Knowledge is power, and because the way we manage our world’s most precious resources is so critical and because…

Join us for our third brown bag of 2016 on Tuesday, Sept. 13 titled “2016 Forecast Accuracy Benchmarking Survey and Energy Trends,” where we’ll reveal the results of our latest industry survey. Participation is free, but prior registration is required. Each seminar lasts approximately one hour,…

In the past three months, I’ve received three questions, all the same, “Why are my residential sales down?” There are several reasons why a company may see declining residential sales, but searching for an economic reason is not the first course of action. The initial step is to validate the…

Itron is among the six founding partners of Urbanova, the newly-named smart city living lab in Spokane, Washington, which announced today the formalization of their collaboration. The group signed a memorandum of understanding to align their efforts around a shared vision and purpose for the…

With gas prices hovering just above $2 a gallon, there is less excitement and curiosity about electric vehicles (EV) as there has been in the past.  In fact, 2015 was the worst year for EV sales; total EV sale were down 5 percent in 2015 compared to 2014, with only 116,099 vehicles sold compared to…

Peter Jansen, Capgemini Today’s world needs a sustainable energy future. Capgemini, like Itron, understands that being more resourceful means making the most of what we have. At Capgemini, we are committed to providing the right services to implement the right solutions (for today and tomorrow),…

Emma Ritch, ABB The industrial sector is becoming one of the first proving grounds for the many benefits promised by the Internet of Things, Services and People. New intelligent electronic devices are enabling vast improvements in utility efficiency, security and reliability as part of automated…

Itron Mobile is a tool kit for collecting data and performing other field activities. It takes advantage of the latest mobile technologies used by utility employees. The Itron Mobile app runs on smart phones, tablets and laptops. Welcome to Itron Utility Week 2016! Our annual customer conference…

The second session we attended today was “Transforming Energy Networks and Enabling Applications with OpenWay Riva,” which was hosted by Curt Kirkeby from Avista. Avista provides energy services and electricity to 375,000 customers and natural gas to 335,000 customers across eastern Washington,…

It’s day two of our Knowledge Conference at IUW, and this morning, we heard from two great speakers during our general session. Robert Swan, Order of the British Empire (OBE), discussed his experience as a polar explorer and how the lessons he learned exploring apply to management and business…

This afternoon we spent time with Roberto Aiello, managing director of Itron Idea Labs, as he discussed the Itron Riva Developers Community. We launched the Developers Community last May with the purpose of encouraging a collaborative ecosystem of IoT developers and device manufacturers to create…

This afternoon we wrapped up the Itron Utility Week Knowledge Conference by attending a final breakout session titled, “Solar Energy: Can Technology Create a Win-Win for Utilities and Customers?” led by Nangy Gul, sales director, Itron and George Wong, director of smart city business development,…

MetrixND provides several options for determining whether a variable is useful. Typically, a model builder reviews the variable coefficients, standard error, t-statistic and p-values. These statistics are located on the “Coef” tab as shown below.         An evaluation of the…

Welcome to Itron’s blog! Whether this is the first time you’ve visited our blog or if you are a regular follower, I hope you find the stories we are sharing interesting and insightful. If you’ve visited us before, you might notice that we gave our blog a makeover to make it easier for you to…

Traditionally, the end of the year is a time to reflect and remember. So when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in December as a vote of confidence in the economy, we should consider how this progressing economy will impact our industry. What is the relationship between the economy and…

CES 2017 marks the 21st year since the term Internet of Things (IoT) was introduced. Since it first appeared in 1985, we have seen a growing number of IoT devices at the show – some that were actually IoT devices and some that were labeled as such just for marketing purposes. In the 1990s, we…

CES day one. It’s been a crazy day of taking in the latest and greatest gadgets and technology in Las Vegas. As usual, I’ve geeked out as much as possible. I was expecting that VR would be big this year and I wasn’t disappointed. My favorite takeaway of the day is the remarkable leap virtual and…

Day two at CES was all about the cars—self-driving cars—a.k.a. Autonomous Vehicles (AV). AVs will change transportation as we know it by creating a different consumer experience and new business models. Safer cars and fewer accidents are the first in a line of benefits. Sending my car to pick up my…

Day three at CES. I was on a mission to find machine intelligence, not a product but an ingredient technology. I was expecting to see it embedded in a variety of products and applications on the show floor, but I have seen less than expected. So here is my prediction: We’ll see more machine…

It is day four at CES and almost time to leave. It’s the King’s birthday, my twentieth time at CES, during CES’s 50th anniversary, and a great day to be here.  An interesting day for anyone interested in numerology. I want to close this series with a summary of what Itron Idea Labs showed at CES.…

Forecasters tell Itron that there is no greater value than meeting with their peers. Itron understands the importance of these interactions and is proud to host this forecasting meeting for the 15th year! Join us for two and a half days in Chicago creating and sharing ideas, solving problems and…

One of our forecasting clients, ERCOT, is looking for a Senior Planning Analyst preferably with at least 5 years of experience. They're searching for a candidate to provide technical expertise to the ISO and Load Forecasting, support the development of load forecasting methodologies and training,…

Out-of-sample tests are a useful tool for seeing how well a model performs with data it hasn’t seen before (i.e., data that weren’t used to estimate the model’s coefficients). This is important because a model’s performance on out-of-sample observations is a helpful indicator of how well a model…

I just got a Google Home – you know, the speaker you can talk to and it will play music. It tells me what the outside temperature is or what a cup of flour is in milligrams. It also tells me the 10,000th digit of Pi that I often need. It has gone from a household novelty to a necessary appliance in…

Propelled by technology selection announcements this week at Public Service Company of New Mexico and AVANGRID in New York, Itron’s OpenWay Riva™ solution is the center of attention for utility and smart city delegates at DistribuTECH 2017 here in sunny San Diego. Itron CEO Philip Mezey told a full…

Find yourself and share with your friends at #DTECH2017! /*===== general options =========*/ a { box-shadow: none !important; } .view *, .album_categories *, .album_back_button *, #album_disabled_layer { font-family: sans-serif, Arial, Verdana, Sylfaen !important; }…

Itron continues to host its popular hour-long Internet seminars on a range of forecasting topics. We’re now in our 11th year!  Itron is always at the forefront of the energy forecasting field. We are helping our customers around the world understand the complexities of energy forecasting and…

I’ve been attending DistribuTECH for the last 10 years, and the only constant thing has been change. Maybe not rapid and fast-paced change like we see at perhaps Consumer Electronics Show (CES)or B2B conferences, but change none the less. This year was no different. Not only vendors, but also…

Imagine you are planning a trip from point A to point B to get there as quickly as possible in your car where you must arrive at a specific time for a meeting. You plan the fastest route, reduce the weight you are carrying, minimize the rest stops you take and maximize your fuel consumption as much…

I recently played laser tag at an amusement park with my two sons. While I would have been happy to report that I beat all the competition, alas, the little score counter plate on my chest told a very different story (as did the smug smile on my eight-year-old who had been a chief adversary). We…

This blog was originally posted on Comverge.com. Itron acquired Comverge on June 1, 2017, and  all future demand response blogs will be posted here.  Prior to the deployment of two-way devices for its demand response programs, Comverge’s utility clients conducted demand response (DR) control…

Among the more than 100,000 attendees at the Mobile World Congress 2017 is the Itron Idea Labs team. And alongside the mobile giants we are demonstrating new technologies relevant to our industry. The Itron Idea Labs team is in Barcelona to support the cool sensor technology developed by Itron’s…

Cars everywhere. Some, are a very similar to the ones I saw at CES (see my previous blog, The Connected World and Autonomous Cars @CES 2017) while some are new concepts with tighter ties to technologies and ideas at Mobile World Congress. A car is a mobile device, and as such, a target and…

Itron’s forecasting group recently launched their Annual Energy Survey. As we have done in previous years, Itron is collecting information to assess industry growth expectations and forecast accuracy for electricity and natural gas. We will continue to focus on forecasts of customer and sales…

One of the main topics I heard talked about at Mobile World Congress is 5G— the next generation cellular. I tried to forget everything I know about 5G, and I roamed the floor to figure out what companies are aiming to do with 5G and when? The industry is certainly promoting the vision of 5G. The…

Recently, I was invited to speak at a California Energy Commission (CEC) sponsored workshop on Research Needs for Renewable Energy Forecasting.  The goal of the workshop was to discuss forecasting tools and methods and how those are being used today; research and development needs; and solutions to…

The 15th Annual Energy Forecasting/EFG Meeting and Training will be in Chicago on April 26-28 with optional one-day training workshops on April 25. Forecasters continue to tell Itron that there is no greater value than meeting with their peers. Itron understands the importance of these…

A few weeks ago, I was on a panel with Microsoft Ventures and Providence Fund in Seattle, discussing corporate innovation and the key ingredients that make it successful. There was a lot of talk about process, strategy and financing. So, when I claimed none of these elements matter if the…

At social events and dinner parties I no longer find myself having to explain at length to polite inquiries on what I do, as long as I utter the magic words “solar.” At that point all other cognition stops and the inevitable question I get is “Should I install solar on my house? This sales rep from…

For water providers of all shapes and sizes, collecting data from assets in the field is a critical component of your operations—but it can be a chore. Without the right technology in place, data collection can be a very manual, time-intensive activity and a drain on your resources. Thankfully,…

In part on of this series, I presented four load forecasting challenges that have arisen as the result of deep penetration of behind-the-meter (BTM) distributed energy resources (e.g. solar generation), time-of-use rates, demand response programs, BTM storage, and electric vehicle charging.  These…

Every morning I wake up and take part in what I believe to be the greatest achievement in recent history. No, I’m not talking about my coffee maker, I’ll spare you my idolization of caffeine for another blog post. I’m talking about the electricity distribution system. As I turn on the various…

In my blog posting “Behind-The-Meter Solar Generation and Real-Time Load Forecasting,” I presented four load forecasting challenges that have arisen as the result of deep penetration of behind-the-meter (BTM) distributed energy resources (e.g. solar generation), time-of-use rates, demand response…

Next week, the natural gas industry will convene in Orlando for the American Gas Association Operations Conference to share knowledge, ideas and practices for safe, efficient and reliable delivery of gas. In the Itron booth (#601) this year, we will be demonstrating ways we are bringing…

In the next five to 10 years, more than 500,000 employees in the energy industry are expected to retire , according to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The average age of an employee in the energy industry is more than 50 years old. Our incoming workforce will need the science,…

The view from the 96th floor of the John Hancock Center is amazing. From here, cars are merely dots between the straight rows of lights and people are absent. Even the contours formed by the cluster of high-rise buildings pale in comparison to the largeness of Lake Michigan and the vastness of the…

You might want to wear your sunglasses while reading the following... It all started in January 2017, at the Itron Sales Conference, held in Palm Springs, California. Philip Mezey, Itron President and Chief Executive Officer, told the enthusiastic gathering how Itron was leading the industry in…

Now in our 11th year of hosting Itron’s popular, free hour-long internet seminars on a range of forecasting topics, we take great pride in helping our customers around the world understand the complexities of energy forecasting and talking about the latest forecasting issues and solutions. Take…

Turning to her left, then right, Grace finds herself surrounded by strangers – men and women from across the United States; there’s even one from Canada. The prompt is simple, “What are the big issues you are facing?” Hesitantly, the first person begins to share his list. Suddenly, the monologue…

Nine out of 10 Fortune 500 companies in 1955 disappeared from the list by 2016. The average tenure of a Fortune 500 company went from 33 years in 1965 to 18 years in 2012, and it is forecast to shrink to 14 years by 2026. The accelerating rate of technology development and disruptive innovation…

Cotati, California is a bedroom community of 7,500 residents located in Sonoma County about 45 miles north of San Francisco. As a progressive, forward thinking municipality, the city has a long standing ethic of water efficiency and in 2011 contracted with WaterSmart Software to deploy a water…

This year’s 11th Annual ISO/RTO/TSO Forecasting Summit was held in San Antonio, Texas from May 16-18. Just like the defenders of the Alamo banded together amid adversity many years ago, forecasters from CAISO, ISO New England, NYISO, PJM, MISO, ERCOT, SPP, AESO, IESO, Tennessee Valley Authority,…

There is a client who has a reporting issue problem. Let’s call him Ray. His annual sales are to be split into summer and winter sales, but on a seasonal, not calendar basis. In Ray’s world, winter begins in November and ends in April spanning two calendar years. While Ray sounded calm when he…

For most things in life, I look forward to go forward. I keep my eyes on the road ahead. I look before I leap. I aim at my target. But this summer while we were on our family vacation, we rented a row boat and it reminded me that rowing a boat is different. When rowing, I face backward to maximize…

Often when we are developing weather variables to support day-ahead power and gas forecasting, we introduce wind speed as a standalone explanatory variable or as a contributing term in a wind chill formula.  An example of the latter is the following wind chill temperature formula: Where temperature…

When I hear the term “water-energy nexus,” I imagine something complex and fantastical, when in actuality it is an intimately familiar and essential component to most of our lives. Water and energy are closely connected in a multitude of ways, from cooling the power plants that produce our energy…

Communities organizations, cities and companies must work every day to truly achieve the big picture of creating smart cities. Our goal of transforming existing infrastructure to create innovative, resourceful urban areas is a project that will span generations. I spoke about this vision as a…

The Annual Energy Forecasting/EFG Meeting and Training will be in Austin, Texas on April 24-27 in 2018! The ISO/RTO/TSO Forecasting Summit will be in San Diego, California on May 15-17. Don’t miss these opportunities to network with your peers and discuss real world issues and practical solutions.…

I’m using the Simulation Object in MetrixND to weather normalize historic sales. When configured, the object allows me to simulate the model replacing the X variables with a scenario. In weather normalization, the simulated X variables are the normal weather heating and cooling variables.  My…

Itron and Comverge, now Itron Distributed Energy Management, have a tradition of technological innovation. By joining forces, we have the opportunity to combine OpenWay Riva technology with distributed energy management expertise in demand response and energy efficiency solutions. How will these…

Our third seminar of the year reveals the results of our annual benchmark survey. Survey participants receive a copy of the report with the findings. This is everyone else’s chance to hear about the results -- so be sure to join us on Tuesday, September 12. To register, for this Brown Bag and…

After finishing my forecast, I like to present forecast average annual growth rates.  These results are calculated by converting the monthly forecast into annual values using a Transformation table with an annual periodicity.  The formulas used in the annual Transformation table are shown below.…

Today is American Business Women’s Day. This day is about networking, celebrating broken barriers and looking ahead to further progression of working women. For me, this day is personal. This day of recognition comes with WEI’s Women in Energy Symposium (WiES) just around the corner, Nov. 1-3.…

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) puts the capability of communication networks to the test. Industrial things come from a variety of manufacturers, employ a variety of wired and wireless interfaces and protocols (many of which are proprietary), range from new to very old, and have widely…

Thomas Edison would have no trouble recognizing most of the component parts in any electrical generation and distribution network today. The technology that made the electrical utility cutting edge in the late 1800s is still an optimal solution. But, that is changing quickly. Electrical utilities…

Technology advancements have forever changed the way we communicate, and through social media, we’re more connected than ever. In times of crisis, this always-connected world is able to see firsthand what is happening in communities around the world that are most affected. But technology is only a…

SAP is a Gold Sponsor of Itron’s Utility Week in Houston, Oct. 15-17.  Below is a brief overview of what we will be showcasing. Please visit the SAP and Itron IEE MDM booths at this event for more details.   “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that…

The work-life balance can be a challenge to manage, but as with any difficult situation, Samantha Ettus has proven it is better with pie. Ettus tackles the difficulty of juggling work and life goals in her book, “The Pie Life,” which she will discuss at the Women in Utilities Reception on Oct. 16…

If you work in the energy sector, integrating smart grid technology is among the most positive and disruptive changes that your company can make. A streamlined, integrated grid will track each of the renewable generation source's energy production levels in real time, which makes it easier to…

There’s no question that the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform the energy and utilities industry —that’s already happening. IoT is playing a central role in the modernization of the energy sector—perhaps more than in any other industry. Companies are already using IoT sensors and integrated…

Welcome to Itron Utility Week 2017! We launched our annual customer-focused event yesterday and welcomed more than 1,000 attendees to Houston. We’re excited to be here, and following Hurricane Harvey, we’re eager to do a small part to help give back to the community. Yesterday, we partnered with…

We’re well underway at #IUW17 and our second blog features a session led by Joe Thomas from Duke Energy discussing how the company utilizes data to create unique and satisfying customer experiences. During his session, Joe examined how today’s operating realities— with demographic shifts, the…

Today marked the second day of the #IUW17 Knowledge Conference and we started the morning with another great general session. We heard from Sharelynn Moore, Itron’s senior vice president of networked solutions and Dr. Michael Webber from the University of Texas at Austin. They gave us an update on…

Our final blog of #IUW17 features a session with Robert Sonderegger and Luke Scheidler from Itron discussing how Itron’s OpenWay® Riva distributed intelligence application for load disaggregation can provide new perspectives into energy usage data. During this session, Robert and Luke discussed the…

The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Energy Research and Development Division supports energy research and development programs to spur innovation in energy efficiency, renewable energy and advanced clean generation, energy-related environmental protection, energy transmission, and distribution…

When we were in school, we all learned the general rule for rounding – if a significant digit is followed by a number that is greater than or equal to 5, we round the number up, otherwise we round the number down. Not surprisingly, this is the behavior we see in Excel, as the ROUND function follows…

Our final brown bag seminar of the year is entitled Load Research in an AMI World: Why? How? And Results. With market penetration of a range of new technologies, traditional demand econometric models will no longer be sufficient. End-use and technology hourly load profiles will play a bigger role…

On Aug. 21, 2017, people gathered across the continent to witness the first total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States since Feb. 26, 1979. The consensus among those who watched the sun become momentarily blotted out by the moon seems to be that it was a worthwhile experience. In…

In a recent project, we were asked to help settle a question. Which forecast is reasonable: One forecasting average annual system demand growth of 0.4 percent or one forecasting system peak demand growth at 1.3 percent? Just for some context, our recent utility survey showed that on average…

The Consumer Electronics Show 2018 is my re-introduction to the electronic industry’s show of all shows – the last time I was here was about 15 years ago! The reason I didn’t attended CES during that time is because I haven’t been working in the consumer electronics industry. Now I know that not…

The 2018 Itron Forecasting Workshops and Meetings have been scheduled. Registration for 101 is currently open at http://www.itron.com/forecastingworkshops. The others will be available soon. Forecasting Workshops Energy Forecasting 101 - Washington, DC; Feb. 28 - March 1 One-Day Modeling Workshops…

This slideshow requires JavaScript. Autonomous vehicles, drones, artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual reality, robotics and smart cities are among the hottest topics at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. Robots are everywhere. For starters, one of our Itron RIVA ecosystem partners, OMRON, centerpieced…

From the excitement in the air about rooms full of new tech to the chaos of navigating the pavilions with an expected new record attendance of approximately 200,000 people, it was another great day at CES. The atmosphere is exciting and at times mind numbing. There are 149,339 hotel rooms in this…

Innovation is always the hot word at CES, but smart cities and smart energy made their debut this year in a big way. Itron Idea Labs was there to contribute to the conversation and scout for start-ups and entrepreneurs with promising products and technologies to serve the future citizens of a smart…

Modernization of the power grid is picking up steam globally, making it the ideal time to be a solution provider in this incredibly exciting and innovative space. The market for grid management solutions in 2017 was more than $21 billion in the U.S. alone. That includes advanced metering…

Providing a peek into the future, Itron showcased its vision of what it may be like to live in a city of the future from a consumer standpoint at the biggest consumer electronics show: CES. The show hosted thought leaders like Deloitte, Panasonic and the U.S. Department of Energy. More than 180,000…

At Itron, we seek to grow resourceful communities across the globe with our technology, growing portfolio and community outreach. Last year, we successfully built more resourceful communities and technology across the world. Here’s a look at 2017. Responding to the Demand   Itron acquired Comverge…

“Help” was the desperate cry of a MetrixLT user after the close of the workday. “I need to multiply two hourly interval data series in MetrixLT!”  While the user understood the action can be accomplished in MetrixND or Excel, he didn’t want to leave the MetrixLT environment. After all, who wants to…

In my previous post, I showed that MetrixLT can multiply two hourly data series even though the software was not designed for that specific purpose. Finding unintended uses of MetrixLT proved to be an addicting game for our forecasting staff.   Naturally, the next question is: “If we can multiply,…

Last October, a conversation began in the Itron Idea Labs community around blockchain and what Itron might do with it in the energy space. Ideas were plenty, ranging from the interesting to the ridiculous and really began taking shape at our last quarterly Itron Idea Labs meeting in Oakland. A…

Our first brown bag seminar of the year is entitled, “Using Neural Networks to Build Robust Hourly Models.” Neural networks are flexible functional forms that learn about nonlinear relationships from the data. These models can be used to identify nonlinearities and variable interactions and to…

In the past year, many people have asked me about smart cities, and how useful they are for the citizens living in the city. A study that we conducted clearly demonstrated that a majority of citizens do not feel sufficiently educated about what a smart city can do for them. At DistribuTECH in San…

The Sum function in MetrixND seems like a complex way to make adding difficult. In a MetrixND transformation, numbers are added by joining variables with the “+” sign. Adding three variables is as simple as writing the following expression in the transformation editor formula box.…

Itron’s forecasting group recently launched its annual energy survey. As we have done in previous years, Itron uses this survey to collect information to assess industry growth expectations and forecast accuracy for electricity and natural gas. This year, we will continue to focus on forecasts of…

With the rapid integration of renewables and distributed technologies into the grid, utilities can no longer feasibly address the challenges of maintaining power quality, balancing supply and demand in real time and ensuring adequate distribution infrastructure capacity with their old systems. To…

Sunrise and sunset times vary from summer to winter because of earth’s tilt with respect to its orbit around the sun. This difference is magnified at latitudes further north (and further south) of the equator. In other words, the number of hours between summer sunrise and winter sunrise is larger…

Itron is a long-time member of the Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA), which was founded in 1999 as the voice of demand response practitioners. I serve on the Executive Committee of PLMA and co-chair the Thought Leadership planning group. Over the past few years, PLMA has been very focused on…

In today’s marketplace, incorporating the multitude of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) can make producing an accurate energy demand forecast very challenging. Amid this increasingly complex business, regulatory and technological environment, Itron pioneered the integration of DER resource…

Modernization efforts are ramping up for leading European utilities with the rapid proliferation of smart devices extending throughout the electricity grid. Smart meters deliver real-time visibility at the end of the line; line sensors pinpoint faults for enhanced situational awareness; and…

Here at Itron, we have a saying—the way we manage energy and water will define this century. Through our technology and innovation, we are working to create more insightful utilities, smarter cities and a more resourceful world. This concept of resourcefulness, and using our resources more wisely,…

As forecasters, averaging is something that we do a lot. We like averaging because it helps us filter out much of the noise in our data so that we can confidently identify patterns, trends and causal relationships. But this can get us into trouble if we’re not careful. Specifically, when we do the…

In 2017, Itron acquired not one, but two companies. First Comverge—a leading distributed energy management company—and then Silver Spring Networks—a leading provider of IoT networking, distribution automation and analytic solutions. While it made for a busy year, the vision for these acquisitions…

Itron is excited to yet again be participating and exhibiting at this year’s IoT World at the Santa Clara Convention Center on May 14-17. This event brings in about 12,000 leaders and innovators in the IoT space to discuss and display the top technologies, strategies and case studies for industries…

Following a record-breaking 2017 hurricane season – which cost the U.S. more than $200 billion in damage, eclipsing the previous record of $159 billion in 2005 – the 2018 hurricane season is expected to be another active one. Communities and state governments are bracing for major impact as the…

Our second brown bag seminar of the year is entitled “Budget Forecasting – A Practitioner’s Handbook.” This Brown Bag distills twenty-plus years of forecasting experience into practical steps for building and evaluating forecasts for the financial planning horizon. The presentation will include how…

At CS Week 2018 in Tampa, Florida, Itron hit the show floor and showcased our expanded portfolio, bringing to the forefront the best of our smart grid and smart networks capabilities with advanced analytics and applications. Buzz at this year’s event focused around customer engagement portals and…

Sometimes when I sit back and consider all the things that need to be done, I feel overwhelmed. The endless demands for regular work—like producing the annual forecast and monthly weather—get coupled with new requests for solar adoption forecasts, electric vehicle research and creatively using AMI…

As part of our efforts to stay abreast of innovations in the cleantech space, Itron Idea Labs is now a corporate sponsor of the Los Angeles Clean Technology Incubator (LACI), housed on the La Kretz campus of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. As corporate members of LACI, Itron Idea…

The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) age has changed the way many industries—including Itron—engage with customers. In this new era, it’s all about content, telling a story, solving challenging problems and having a call to action. We want to take our customers on a journey and reveal how our…

I recently had the pleasure of attending the second annual Smart Cities Week Silicon Valley, organized by the Smart Cities Council. During this event—which brings together leaders from government and industry to share best practices about programs and projects that relate to smart technology—I…

At Itron, we strive to help create a more resourceful world—and that mission goes beyond partnering with utilities and cities. Through our Power Over Energy campaign—a social media energy literacy initiative backed by a coalition of business, nonprofit and government groups—Itron is helping educate…

Electric, gas and water have long been considered essential services provided by utilities and cities around the world. But now, as utilities are deploying the network foundations to build out diverse ecosystems of IoT-connected devices, sensors applications and more, the industry is evolving. In…

The IoT industry is evolving quickly, and it isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. GSMA Intelligence projects that the IoT market will be worth $1.1 trillion in revenue by 2025 as market value pivots from connectivity and applications to platforms and services. Itron recently participated in IoT…

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Annual Convention in San Diego. This annual event brings together energy executives, government officials, energy and smart grid providers and others from across the U.S. to address the important topics currently impacting…

It is easy to stub your toe on the voluminous literature available on machine learning when the question of how to improve your operational forecast is raised by management. A Google search on the topic, “machine learning applied to electricity forecasting” returns over one million hits. With this…

In last week’s blog post, we highlighted what we said on stage during IoT World. This week, we’re going to discuss how our partners helped us showcase the technology that has made Itron a leading provider of IoT technology. During the IoT Live! tour at our booth, we showcased significant, real…

Itron recently attended American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) 137th Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE), and for the first time, showcased our new Intelis ultrasonic water meter. On average, more than 30 percent of the fresh water that is pumped daily across the globe is wasted due to leaks…

Itron partner Frost and Sullivan is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Excellence in Resourcefulness Best Practices Awards. As a growth partnership company, Frost and Sullivan works with clients to develop growth strategies by leveraging innovation that addresses global challenges. Presented at…

San Diego’s slogan is “America’s Finest City” and being fortunate enough to call this place my home for the past seven years, I see why. It has a little something for everyone – natural beauty, mild weather, great beaches, tons of water sports, exceptional dining, cool shops, fun sights, cultural…

Safety is always top of mind for gas utilities, and new technology advancements, like the OpenWay® Riva Intelis gas meter, make it possible to reduce safety incidents and the associated costly damage. At the end of June, Itron showcased our new gas meter at the World Gas Conference in Washington…

I was recently asked to account for behind-the-meter (BTM) solar generation in a set of day-ahead hourly electric models. Fundamentally, the problem is that electricity consumption (from the perspective of the utility or the ISO) is lower on sunny days, when rooftop solar panels are generating lots…

Congratulations to our partner, Utility Systems Science & Software (US3), who recently won the Texas Public Works Association Project of the Year Award for its Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Monitoring and Alerting System. The award-winning project took place in collaboration with Itron and the…

The recent U.S. administration’s 30 percent tariff on imported solar cells and modules has not been well received by the solar industry. Effective Jan. 1, the first 2.5 GW of imported cells each year are excluded from the tariff, while all additional imports are subject to a 30 percent tariff in…

Itron delivers solutions that help cities become more efficient and sustainable. Recently, Eden Strategy Institute, a strategy consulting firm, put together a collection of the Top 50 Smart City Governments—and 12 cities on the list are Itron customers, including: London Singapore New York…

Grid operators schedule and dispatch generation resources to meet demand in as cost-effective manner as possible. In a perfect world, the least costly solution would be to schedule and dispatch generation where the supply stack of generation exactly crosses the demand curve. With perfect foresight,…

As Itron continues to influence and make an impact on the future of smart cities, we are excited to be an exhibitor at the upcoming Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress in Copenhagen, Sept. 17 – 21. This event is the world’s largest exhibition focused entirely on the digitalization of…

Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 11 for our third Brown Bag seminar of the year as we reveal the results of our annual bench-marking survey. We are excited to report our highest number of survey participants to date. While all survey participants will receive a copy of the report with its findings, this…

Sentient Energy and Itron began their strong, mutual supportive relationship over 10 years ago when Sentient Energy first came to market. Sentient Energy has been able to integrate Itron’s high performance mesh network into Sentient Energy’s market leading line sensors and analytics because of…

This summer has been particularly steamy in certain parts of the country, unfortunately resulting in periodic blackouts as utilities struggle to get enough supply resource online to meet the extreme demand. Demand response is a clean energy resource frequently used by utilities to keep the lights…

Itron Utility Week (IUW) kicks off at the end of this month with three simple words—connect, innovate, transform. A simple message that translates into an incredible opportunity for Itron customers looking to discover new technologies, services and operations to transform how they deliver and…

Earlier this week, we talked about the upcoming Itron Utility Week (IUW) and two of our exciting conference tracks focusing on data management and mobile and measurement solutions. During this event, interested attendees will also have the opportunity to dig in more on the impact of analytics and…

Itron Idea Labs continued its partnership with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) this week with two exciting events! On Monday, Sept. 10, Luke Scheidler, Itron senior production manager, and I attended the first ever California Climate Cup, a startup innovation competition seeking the next…

Itron Utility Week (IUW) 2018 is almost here! Next week, 1,000 customers from a range of industries will come together in Scottsdale, Arizona to learn more about the comprehensive solutions offered by Itron and our trusted partners, as well as how our customers are realizing value from these…

Next week, 1,000 industry leaders, technology visionaries and peers will come together in Scottsdale, Arizona for Itron Utility Week (IUW). If you’re attending IUW 2018—Itron’s premier customer-focused conference—be sure to check out some of the fun and entertainment Scottsdale has to offer. If…

Itron Utility Week (IUW) 2018 kicks off at the end of this week—and we’ve got all the details to help ensure your trip is a success. As you’re prepping for your trek to Scottsdale, Arizona, be sure to keep these items in mind: Download the IUW app to stay in-the-know. Review the list of attendees…

I live in Southern California with a kid who runs the air conditioning like electricity is free and pretends that he lives in a frozen tundra. This factor made me the perfect candidate for going solar. And since I’ve worked in Itron’s forecasting department for almost 27 years, it also makes sense…

One year ago, SAP prepared for Itron Utility Week (IUW) with a clear plan, purpose and a vision of success. SAP and Itron outlined an ambitious plan to bring the Itron Enterprise Edition Meter Data Management (IEE MDM) solution onto the SAP HANA platform. With high expectations and a short…

Frost & Sullivan announced today Pepco Holdings and the City of Bismarck, North Dakota's water utility as the recipients of this year's Excellence in Resourcefulness Awards for energy and water. The annual awards honor companies that have demonstrated their commitment and ability to…

Itron Utility Week (IUW) kicked off in high-gear yesterday, and the General Session presenters set the pace with a compelling kickoff! We had a strong lineup of speakers to get the week started, including: Itron CEO Philip Mezey; Luis Frisby, who oversees the Central Arizona Division of…

Nearly 1,200 attendees reconvened this morning ready to absorb all that they could during the last day of our Knowledge Conference at one of our largest Itron Utility Weeks (IUW) yet! Our high-impact speakers, engaged attendees and innovative partners kept up Monday’s momentum throughout day two,…

One of the most engaging discussions at Itron Utility Week (IUW) was the Big Picture Session, which explored new business models to fund and activate smart cities. We were lucky to have industry expert Jennifer Runyon lead the compelling conversation, which gave the audience a chance to glean…

One of the most engaging discussions at Itron Utility Week (IUW) was the Big Picture Session, which explored new business models to fund and activate smart cities. We were lucky to have industry expert Jennifer Runyon lead the compelling conversation, which gave the audience a chance to glean…

If you’re a user of Itron’s Automated Demand Forecasting System, MetrixIDR, then chances are you’ve probably seen the words “Weather Groups” at some point while navigating the software. Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “What the heck are Weather Groups?” Well, simply put, Weather Groups are a method of…

Cities worldwide are ramping up deployment of smart technologies that accelerate progress towards sustainability goals, while empowering them with a toolkit for digital transformation. Offering a range of proven benefits, including energy savings, reduced maintenance cost, and enhanced safety,…

Itron and Discovery Education’s joint educational outreach program, Conservation Station: Creating a More Resourceful World, launched last week. This new corporate social responsibility-based educational program was developed to engage and educate middle school students about smart cities…

Probabilities and odds express the same information in different ways. In science and economics, people tend to think in terms of probabilities, while in gambling, people tend to think in terms of odds. Probabilities express the likelihood of an event occurring as a percentage of all possible…

I had the opportunity to attend Itron Utility Week this year on behalf of Iguá Saneamento, a water provider in Brazil. This large event is focused on the utility sector (water, energy and gas) and hosted by Itron, which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water and…

Itron continues to create a more resourceful world. We have recently been recognized as the winner of the Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability from the Institute of Directors (IOD), India. The award was presented by the Baroness Verma, global chairperson for the Institute of Directors in…

The issue of aggregation bias should not be a new concept to any of us in the energy forecasting world. In April, my colleague David Simons posted about the potential pitfalls of aggregation bias when calculating weather concepts, pointing out the importance of calculating CDD and HDD concepts…

This summer, Itron saw movement in Congress on some long-standing issues that we have been working on for several years, including the Disaster Recovery Reform Act and Water Resource Development Act. With a coordinated effort by a broad coalition of interested organizations and other parties,…

Our final brown bag seminar of the year—hosted on Tuesday, Dec. 4—is entitled “Short-term Load Forecasting: A Practitioner’s Handbook.” Ever wonder how to build a day-ahead load forecasting model? This Brown Bag provides a high-level walk through of the process. This presentation includes: Data…

As an entrepreneur-in-residence for Itron Idea Labs, I was excited to be able to represent our organization at the recent LA CoMotion Leadership Conference in Los Angeles, Nov.15 - 17 . This three-day global forum, co-hosted by LACI (the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, which is an Itron-sponsored…

Over the years, numerous clients have requested a “recipe book” for building powerful short-term load forecast models. This guide to Short-term Load Forecast Modeling is a partial “recipe book,” providing the full list of possible ingredients with guidance as to when to use which combination of…

Itron recently announced that it has been named a Visionary in Gartner Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Managed M2M Services, Worldwide for the third time. The report evaluates the global market for M2M services, which “enables connectivity, compute and decision services that are necessary for connected…

Itron has invited IoT developers to submit their solutions to the inaugural Itron Smart City Challenge. The Smart City Challenge will bring together leading IoT technology providers to tackle the challenges some of the biggest cities in Europe are facing today. These challenges have been designed…

For anyone that has tried to improve a model by changing the specification, you know it is very much a trial and error process. You create variables (vars), add some vars, replace some vars, and hopefully after it’s all said and done, you end up with a model specification that performs better than…

At Itron, we are dedicated to creating resourceful communities across the globe with our technology, growing portfolio and community outreach. This year, we continued this mission, working with our customers to ensure their success and helping improve the quality of life, ensure the safety and…

In November, representatives and volunteers from Itron had the great opportunity to travel to Nepal to help with the Mohari Project, a project chartered to create a microgrid using six 1kW turbines to provide power to the remote village of Moharigaun. Working alongside members of the community,…

Recently, I wrote a blog on residential solar. In it, I mentioned that I needed at least a 6 kW system, but I installed a 7.25 kW system with 25 panels because I was considering adding an electric vehicle (EV) in the future. At the end of 2017, I leased a Honda Clarity EV. My existing Honda Pilot…

It is never boring at CES, from a technologies and products point of view. This year, I thought I would pay attention to strange things rather than specific trends. A clarification first. By strange, I don’t mean bad, but something I would never think of. There were plenty of strange things in very…

As my first CES event, sensory overload might be a good way to describe my initial visit to the showroom floor. I suppose because I've spent my entire career developing products and solutions for the enterprise business, I've never really understood the consumer market. Everything at CES 2018 is…

My first visit to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) left my head spinning – figuratively and literally. To begin with, I was intrigued by the mass of humanity – from all corners of the globe – swarming from exhibit to exhibit. I was fascinated and enthralled by tiny drones buzzing around like…

Itron was among a number of companies highlighting blockchain technology and applications at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019. A blockchain-based electric vehicle (EV) charging demo was one of several Itron Idea Labs projects highlighted at last week's massive show, held annually in Las…

Itron is excited to announce we have been named a Leader in Gartner Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Meter Data Management Products [1] for the sixth consecutive year, for our Meter Data Management (MDM) solution. IEE MDM provides consistent and meaningful data to 91 utilities. As the leading and most…