
	April 2008

Itron's Network of Distributors: The Most Knowledgeable Resellers in the Metering and AMR Industry

Each year, in appreciation of their hard work and dedication to their customers, Itron hosts its nationwide team of distributors at our electricity metering manufacturing factory in Oconee, S.C. This team of distributors serves as Itron's representatives and ambassadors to thousands of utilities, municipalities and cooperatives throughout the United States and Canada.

At this year's meeting, Itron distributors were recognized and

honored for their success in helping utilities and municipalities implement Itron metering and automation technologies. More importantly, the meeting provided an important opportunity for distributors to spend time with Itron product managers and engineers, and immerse themselves in the products and technology. Specifically, the education and training sessions focused on Itron's ChoiceConnect™ suite of automated meter reading (AMR) solutions, which includes CENTRON® Polyphase high powered meters, Itron Fixed Network, Mobile Collector Lite, digital modem technology, and new SRead™ radio and MC3 mobile AMR technology.

This continuous partnership, cooperation and learning is what sets Itron distributors apart from others in the industry, said Russ Vanos, Itron's vice president of marketing. "The result is that Itron distributors are the most knowledgeable in the industry and are able to deliver technology solutions that are ideally suited to our customers' business objectives and challenges. It is that knowledge and support that sets Itron distributors apart."

At the meeting, Itron also announced the launch of two new promotions packages for Itron distributors to offer their customers. The "Drive to Greater Savings with Itron Mobile AMR" features Mobile Collector Lite, a flexible, lower-cost mobile AMR solution that can read thousands of meters in a single day, compared to only a few hundred meters using walk-by technology. The promotion is designed to help utilities and municipalities achieve greater operational efficiency, enhanced quality of billing data, and improve customer satisfaction through proven and cost-effective mobile AMR.

In addition, Itron brought distributors up to speed on a new promotion of the CENTRON Polyphase electricity meter. "Power Up with CENTRON Polyphase and SRead Technology," is designed to provide an ideal metering and AMR solution for the lower and mid-tier commercial and industrial customer segment. SRead™ technology refers to Itron's new radio technology now available in Itron handheld and mobile collection systems, featuring multiple channels, noise rejection features and an expanded receive range that surpasses any other radio technology offered in the AMR market today.

Itron CENTRON® Meters Recognized for Manufacturing Excellence

Itron has been selected as a winner of the fourth annual Progressive Manufacturing 50 Awards, selected by Managing Automation Magazine, a Thomas Publishing Company publication.

The Progressive Manufacturing 50 Awards recognize 50 projects that have achieved distinction in at least one of the eight core disciplines defined by Managing Automation as critical to business success in the years ahead. These disciplines include: Business

Model Mastery, Customer Mastery, Supply Network Mastery, Data & Integration Mastery, Innovation Mastery, Training & Education Mastery, Leadership, and Operational Excellence. Project nominations were reviewed by an independent, blue-ribbon judging panel chaired by Editor-in-Chief David Brousell of Managing Automation Magazine.

Itron was recognized based on the success of the CENTRON meter display assembly automation project, which was implemented at the Oconee, S.C., manufacturing facility in 2007. Itron is honored alongside other high-profile manufacturing companies including Boeing, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Honda, HP, IBM and TRW.

"The display assembly automation project is a great example of Itron's relentless efforts to drive costs from our manufacturing operations while also increasing product quality and factory capacity," said Bob Burks, vice president of operations for Itron North America. "Our customers demand the highest quality at the lowest possible cost and this sort of innovation in our manufacturing processes enables Itron to fulfill that expectation. And we're able to achieve this level of manufacturing quality and cost performance building our products right here in the United States."

The impact on Itron's meter manufacturing operations has been significant. The redesign of components and processes required integration of a new display product with a new automated manufacturing design process and automated systems.

The selection process for the award is based on the presentation of information pertaining to return on investment and the overall impact of the project on the manufacturing business. Itron's outstanding achievements and innovative business practices will be recognized by industry peers, partners and suppliers in the manufacturing community as they accept the award at the 2008 Progressive Manufacturing Summit & Awards conference in Las Vegas in June.

Nelson Hydro Finds Clear Migration Path to AMR Using Itron Technology
CENTRON® Meters and MC Lite Help to Drive Organizational Excellence for Canadian Municipality

Opportunity
Incorporated in 1898, Nelson Hydro is unique from most municipally-owned utilities in that it is fully vertically integrated — that is, the utility operates generation, transmission, substation and distribution facilities. By contrast, the other four municipal utilities in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, are limited to operation of distribution facilities only. Nelson Hydro's operations manager, Mike Amos, draws on this uniqueness to face changing industry demands and continuous challenges exclusive to Canada.

"Aging electromechanical meters and manual meter reading were rapidly overwhelming our ability to keep pace with rising labor costs and the shifting dynamics of the Canadian energy market," says Amos. After extensive research, Amos and his team concluded that automation of its meters and data collection processes addressed each of these hurdles.

On average, Canadian meter readers are paid 46 percent more than meter readers in the United States. The rate at which labor costs in Canada are rising is almost as unprecedented. These costs come in addition to the high costs associated with certifying meter accuracy as mandated by Measurement Canada, the utility's regulatory body. Specifically, Measurement Canada requires utilities to verify meter accuracy over a specified time period (seal extension) and directs they re-test sample groups of meters depending on size. Nelson Hydro's aging meters need to meet or exceed specified accuracies, otherwise the entire group of meters must be retrieved and re-tested. As the meters get older, the amount of time between tests gets shorter and the amount of testing piles up, resulting in a full-time meter mechanic whose only job is to administer and execute compliance testing.

For Nelson Hydro, implementation of new, automated meters would ease some of the burden and cost of certifying its aging meters and give them a more accurate data on customer consumption. The change-out would also open the door to increased revenues and ensuring end-customers are paying for services received.

The meters would also enable access to mobile reading through handheld and mobile collection systems. This would not only eliminate manual data entry errors; it would also solve challenges associated with an aging workforce. In 2005, Nelson Hydro lost one full-time meter reader through attrition. Combined with the cost savings realized through replacing its outdated meters, the time was right to achieve more efficiency with a smaller workforce by implementing mobile reading.

Solution
Nelson Hydro embarked on a 6-year plan to replace 9,000 of its residential and 500 of its commercial and industrial (C&I) electromechanical electricity meters. Impressed with the exceptional accuracy and reliability of CENTRON meters, the utility chose Itron for the conversion. Amos says Itron CENTRON meters offered Nelson Hydro the flexible and reliable communications they needed to meet future technology standards.

"Itron was the only supplier to submit a complete solution for residential, commercial and polyphase meters," says Amos. "They were also the only North American vendor granted a10-year seal extension by Measurement Canada."

The 10-year initial seal period allows CENTRON meters to remain in the field for 10 years prior to sampling for accuracy. The CENTRON was the first electronic meter to be granted an extended initial seal period. Prior to granting a 10-year seal period for the CENTRON, Measurement Canada required sampling of electronic meters after six years of service. For Nelson Hydro, the additional four years translates into a $10,000 savings in re-test costs annually.

In fall 2007, the new meters enabled Nelson Hydro to migrate from manually keying data into handheld computers, Itron's FC200Rs, for drive-by collection with Itron's MC Lite. The easy-to-use, portable drive-by solution utilizes FC200s with external radios to gather consumption and tamper data. Both are part of ChoiceConnect™, the automated meter reading (AMR) suite of walk-by, drive-by and network technologies from Itron that work alone or together to meet customer's specific objectives.

"Implementation of AMR is our ultimate goal. We needed a meter reading system that would provide a clear migration path to meeting future needs. This system needed to work with a portfolio of AMR technologies," says Amos.

Benefits
To date, Nelson Hydro has installed 3,000 CENTRON residential meters in rural areas where meter reading costs are highest. The utility has already realized a reduction in re-reads with an increase in read accuracy. In addition to these benefits, operational efficiency with respect to meter reading and billing operations has noticeably improved. Prior to the mobile upgrade, one rural meter route absorbed five days time to read—it's now down to one. The time required to read a billing cycle has been reduced by 90 percent. All said that's a $150,000 per year savings in labor and equipment costs. Remember the full-time meter shop employee, solely responsible for accuracy testing? He's now free to perform a variety of tasks for the utility—another cost savings.

Looking to the future, the utility will soon begin deployment of CENTRON Polyphase meters to meet the demands of its low- to mid-tier C&I customers. Plans include using Itron Fixed Network to install strategically placed network collector units and repeaters for maximum coverage, effectively achieving a 100 percent systems migration. Amos is looking forward to utilizing the time-of-use and positive outage detection functionality housed inside CENTRON meters.

Says Amos, "It's a relief for me that every device and product we're using is lined up with one supplier. This is especially relevant for a utility such as ours that envisions a complete conversion to AMR."