
	February 2008

Itron Ships More Than One Million SENTINEL® Solid-State Commercial and Industrial Meters in Less Than Five Years

2007 was a very good year for the SENTINEL solid-state commercial & industrial meter. Itron hit the 1 million meters shipped mark in a record time of less than five years. Additionally, shipments in 2007 for the SENTINEL meter were 15 percent higher than 2006.

The SENTINEL is an exceptionally accurate solid-state, polyphase meter that was designed for high-end C&I customers, including industrial sites, stadiums, hospitals and substations.

The SENTINEL was introduced five years ago and replaced the VECTRON®, which was a strong leader in the solid-state meter industry for 11 years. The SENTINEL was built to provide affordable state-of-the art polyphase metering technology on a flexible platform for easy upgrade and enhancement to meet industry demands for improved accuracy, reliability and cost-effectiveness for C&I customers.

"Itron's leadership in the C&I market is evident when you look at the exceptional growth of Itron's C&I product line," said Lowell Rust, director of Itron product marketing for electricity metering. "The VECTRON meter made its debut in 1993 and by the time Itron ended that meter line, we had produced more than a million meters in 11 years. The SENTINEL meter has shipped more than a million meters in less than half the time."

With roughly 18 million C&I customers in the market, a milestone of one million commercial and industrial meters shipped in the U.S. is a significant accomplishment, says Rust. Nearly a half-million C&I meters were shipped in 2007, an Itron record.

The SENTINEL has many features and functions including load profile read/energy usage retrieval (retrieves and transmits interval data for up to eight unique energy values); register and billing reads; load profile near term interval read (used to monitor usage during load curtailment or real time pricing premium period events); power outage and power restoration alarms (transmitting a last gasp notification when detecting and AC power outage at the metering point); meter diagnostics (and tamper detection) alerts and meter clock monitoring and correction, and other functions. The adaptable architecture integrates easily into existing systems and provides a long life of low maintenance, efficient operation and extremely flexible upgrade capability.

Product Announcement: PC-PRO+® Advanced 9.0
Tools for a More Efficient Utility

Itron's PC-PRO+ Advanced suite of products continues to be a powerful set of tools used in programming electricity meters. The upcoming PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 is no exception. It is a major advancement in meter programming software geared toward simplifying and streamlining common tasks associated with the meter programming process. It introduces utilities to the latest, most powerful tools for displaying, sharing and analyzing metering data. The simplified user interface provides an intuitive means of initializing meter program files and viewing all the tools in one, convenient location.

Data Management
PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 includes innovative tools to manage all programming data (meter programs, protocol files, display files, and time-of-use and custom schedules) within an easy-to-use interface. While the underlying data remains the same, users are now able to navigate through meter programs and schedules without having to launch different applications. By incorporating feedback from many utilities, PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 gives our metering users remarkable tools for running their business better - every day.

Data Manager
The Data Manager is a new application that provides a single user interface to all the programming tools necessary for creating and managing meter programs. It is a complete and efficient system for directing electricity metering devices and meter data. While the tools used to create and edit programs remain unchanged, the Data Manager organizes and provides quick and easy access to all existing meter programming data. As shown in the diagram below, the Data Manager is very similar to applications most users are already familiar with.

Program and Schedule Comparison
The comparison tool is an innovative way to compare up to four programs, time-of-use schedules or custom schedules. Differences in programs or schedules can now be quickly identified. This allows a user to:

Manage existing programs and schedules

Reduce duplicates

Check existing files for accuracy and consistency

Program and Schedule Dependencies
A user can view any dependencies that may exist between programs, schedules or displays. This new and exciting feature is valuable when needing to see how a particular program or schedule relates to another one. It gives the user the ability to quickly see how many programs a schedule change may affect. This feature also highlights which programs and schedules are no longer used and can be deleted.

Reporting
Itron is very excited to offer improved meter data reporting capabilities in PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0. All users will enjoy and benefit from this innovative feature addition. Reports can be generated from either new or existing meter image files (MIFs) and MV-90 HHF files. Reports can be created either one at a time or in batches immediately after the data has been uploaded by any of the PC-PRO+ suite of products including PC-PRO+ Advanced, Shop-Pro, Field-Pro, and HH-Pro (creation of MIF files in HH-Pro will be available in a future release).

Report Design
The Report Designer is the tool used for creating and editing report templates. The different templates allow the user to specify what data to display and how to display it in the report.

Report Content
Users can select both the content and the template of their reports. Reports can contain any combination of the following values:

Total consumption

Minimum, Maximum, Average Demands (Block or rolling)

Peaks and Coincident values

Time of Use Analysis

Time series graph

Raw interval data

Interval statuses

Sharing Data
PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 makes it much easier to share meter data. In addition to printed reports, version 9.0 allows users to store reports in Adobe® PDF, Microsoft Excel® format (XLS), XML format, HTML format, or as ASCII text files. In addition, PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 provides the tools needed to e-mail, store, and manage report files.

Conclusion
PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 is a major advance in meter programming systems. This release provides a host of new tools and capabilities to simplify day-to-day operations yet preserves the investment in time, effort, and training that you have put into your existing Itron meter programming solution by remaining fully backward compatible with all of your metering data from PC-PRO+ Advanced 8.0.
Itron is targeting two more releases with even more exciting features in the near future. PC-PRO+ Advanced version 10.0 and PC-PRO+ Advanced version 11.0 are already being planned.
Our innovative improvements are helping to provide the electricity metering industry with the Tools for Running Business Better - Every Day.

For more information about how Itron PC-PRO+ Advanced 9.0 can help your utility easily adapt to the changing data needs of your customers, e-mail us at knowledge@itron.com

Reaching a New Level of Performance for PC-PRO+® Advanced
Announcing Addition to Itron Knowledge Exchange On-Line User Forum

Itron is eager to announce a new User Forum for the Itron Knowledge Exchange that's specific to our PC-PRO+ Advanced suite of products.

The Itron Knowledge Exchange is a gathering place for Itron product users to ask peers questions and exchange ideas with one another. It works like other forums where you post a thread and members can respond.

Getting Started

Go to the following website:
http://forums.itron.com

Click the "Register now" or "Join" link.

When you first go into Itron Knowledge Exchange, you will see several "communities." As with the addition of the PC-Pro+ Advanced forum, there are always new communities is development. Within the Electricity Metering Software area, there are several main product topics, plus an area for discussing communication topics. We ask that you post your comments in the area most relevant to your subject. Only Itron customers will be allowed to participate in the forums.

You will be required to enter in your name, company and email address. You also will be required to enter in a sign-in name and a password. At the bottom of the form, check the Electricity Metering Software forum checkbox.

Click Join Now. You will see a message saying "Your account is pending approval." You will be sent a confirmation email once your registration information has been processed.

When going to sign into the user forum, go to Sign In (upper right hand corner). Once logged in, you will need to click the Forums link at the top of the page.

Additional Information
We will try to process your registration within two-business days. There is a short video at http://forums.itron.com/userforumsdemo.htm that you can watch to find out more information. If you have other questions, click on the Help link at the top right of the Itron Knowledge Exchange screen.
Once your registration has been approved, you can start to read, post and learn. If you want to receive automatic notifications of new posts, you need to first enable Email Notifications through your user profile and then second, select which forums you want to subscribe to through the Forum Subscriptions listed under Shortcuts on the Forums page.

It is important to note that product support issues will continue to be handled through our existing support mechanism (support@itron.com). However, support representatives will be monitoring the forum and be available to answer questions.

If you have any questions about the forums, please send them to electricityforum@itron.com.

We look forward to hearing from you in the Itron Knowledge Exchange.

Creating a reliable product
A behind the scenes look at production of Itron electricity meters

Manufacturing of Itron's electricity meters begins at the Oconee Product Center in West Union, S.C. Here, meter quality measures, accelerated life testing, field test data and independent verification of our products have all contributed to the sale of more than 25 million of meters and kept Itron as a global leader in meter manufacturing.

Itron was the first electronic meter manufacturer in North America to be granted an extended initial seal period of 10 years by

Measurement Canada, and earned the 2007 North American Frost and Sullivan Market Leadership Award in solid-state metering and AMI technology development. These successes confirm the Oconee Product Center's commitment to the continual improvement of quality production processes.

Meter Quality Measures: Inspection to In-Field Performance
Itron ensures its meters perform reliably over their complete installation lives. That is why more than 22 million CENTRON® solid-state residential meters have been sold. The meter is one of three basic electric metering lines manufactured in Oconee. The CENTRON meter is designed for residential and light industrial applications. The SENTINEL® Meter is designed for larger industrial and commercial applications and the QUANTUM® Q1000 is specific to power distribution needs. From raw components to the eventual end-product, more than 40 Itron quality plans and more than 12 industry standards manuals from ANSI, IEC and others, are utilized.

Proven Reliable: Accelerated Life Testing
The real proof of a meter's reliability resides in how it operates in the field. In addition to manufacturing quality control measures, Itron performs accelerated and highly accelerated life testing to enhance a meter's success in any environment. By subjecting the meters to operational stress levels that are more severe than normal in-service stress levels, test results can be extrapolated to the normal use environment to estimate meter life. These same meters are audited on a monthly basis through various stress conditions to help detect any deviations from component sourcing or manufacturing processes.

When simulating conditions from artic to tropical, Itron has a wide range of expertise. Random lots of powered and unpowered meters must prove their robustness against five daily cycles of temperature changes from -40°F to +185°F. In addition, elevated temperature testing is performed at 194°F, and powered meters are subjected to periodic power outages. Temperature humidity testing exposes meters to 80 percent relative humidity (REH) at 176°F, and a storage test simulates simple storage conditions of 95 percent REH at 122°F.

Finally, Oconee meters are subjected to the elements. To keep pace with quality control and reliability testing, and a changing market place, Itron at Oconee dedicated property and resources in 2007 to create an outdoor meter farm for the support and development of industry leading AMI technology. The AMI meter farm includes approximately 2,500 meters and spans across 30 acres of property surrounding the manufacturing facility. Meters are operated at 240V and 30A in anything from full direct sunlight to the worst weather South Carolina has to offer. The Oconee Product Center also houses 300 meters inside the facility for a complete test site that includes both indoor and outdoor settings.

Field Test Data
Our quality control measures help us do more than weed out potential problems. Combined with field test data, the statistical information helps us evaluate failure modes, allowing us to improve long-term product reliability. Oconee is developing a field location capable of testing 105 meters. In addition to this testing capacity, Oconee's future plans include working with another of Itron's manufacturing facilities in Waseca, MN, to expand testing parameters. Currently, the most valuable field test data is retrieved from direct relationships with customer meters that have been in the field for five years or more. This data allows for the continuous refinement of life estimations. This is essential for maintaining our competitive edge in the marketplace and produces results that continue to set the industry standard for electricity metering.

Independent Verification
The Oconee Product Center engages with third-party engineering experts like Clemson University in South Carolina to validate and perform long-term experiments aimed at identifying future product enhancements. Partnerships like this enhance the quality of our meters and also provide us with additional recommendations and equipment for accelerated testing and failure analysis of Itron products.

The Oconee Product Center has the ability to provide meters that are flexible in both form and function, satisfying the requirements of a wide range of meter reading technologies. As Itron continues to grow and change based on industry demands, Itron's South Carolina-based electricity metering manufacturing center will rapidly adapt with state-of-the-art production methodologies at a capacity unprecedented in the industry. A strong commitment to continuous improvement and the application of lean manufacturing principles will yield further improvements in productivity, strengthening the competitive position of the business.

Jamaica Public Service Taps Itron and Trilliant for Advanced Metering Solutions

Trilliant Incorporated and Itron, Inc have entered into an agreement with Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS) to provide a complete AMI solution needed to support approximately 6,000 priority commercial and industrial (C&I) customers across the island. JPS is an integrated electric utility company and the sole distributor of electricity on the island of Jamaica.

The solution provided by Trilliant, along with the SENTINEL® meters provided by Itron, will support advanced capabilities such as real-time reporting of power quality events providing a foundation for improved service, reduced costs and providing revenue assurance for JPS.

To meet the demanding business requirements of JPS, the implementation will consist of Trilliant SerViewCom® Data Acquisition and Processing Platform in combination with CellReader® Advanced Communications Modules integrated with Itron SENTINEL® meters. This combination of leading technology supports real-time detection of metering anomalies and tampering; detection of service outages particularly related to major tropical storms; and timeliness and accuracy of customer billing. By helping customers with a better understanding of their own consumption patterns they will be able to adapt their behavior toward more efficient energy usage.

"The SENTINEL is a meter of exceptional accuracy, and we are pleased to provide JPS and Trilliant with advanced metering solutions in Jamaica," said Lowell Rust, Itron director of product marketing for electricity meters. "In today's market, we have demands for more information, faster information and better information. That drives utilities to look for the solutions that can provide the leading edge of technology with savings and efficiency."