Itron Inc., of Liberty Lake, has received three recent orders from utilities in New York state, Detroit, and Portland, Ore., the latter of which likely will be worth $20 million to $25 million in business.


In the biggest of the orders, Itron announced Monday that it had signed a contract to provide Detroit-based DTE Energy with advanced metering technology to automate a total of 2.6 million electric meters and 700,000 gas meters over the next six years. Itron will install approximately 30,000 meters and modules for system evaluation and testing, with full deployment of the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system likely beginning in 2009. Itron couldnt be reached for comment about the dollar value of that contract.


In the Oregon contract, NW Natural Gas, of Portland, announced it had signed an agreement to automate an additional 375,000 natural gas meters with Itrons automated meter-reading (AMR) technology by adding a radio module to each meter.


Its a good-sized contract, says Deloris Duquette, Itrons vice president of investor relations and corporate communications. NW Natural Gas, which Itron says is the largest independent natural gas utility in the Pacific Northwest, already had automated 260,000 meters outside of the Portland area with Itron AMR radio modules, and now will automate 375,000 meters in the Portland area, Duquette says. The Portland utility has been reading meters jointly with Portland General Electric, with meter readers from each company reading both electric and gas meters as they made their rounds, but that arrangement either is expiring or has expired, she says.


Using Itrons technology, NW Natural Gas obtains information from automated meters by picking up radio signals with mobile technology in vehicles that it drives up and down streets. That method results in lower meter-reading costs than having meter readers walk streets to read meters, Itron says.


The Detroit contract calls for installation of 2.6 million of Itrons Open Way electricity meters, which provide a two-way communication network between a utility and its customers. That enables utilities to collect data at intervals, to meter consumption based on time of use, to limit load by connecting and disconnecting customers electricity-using devices, and to allow customers to participate in energy management and conservation programs, Itron says.


In the New York state contract, Itron announced that Suffolk County Water Authority had agreed to deploy Itrons mobile AMR technology on the meters of 21,000 of its customers in Montauk and the Hamptons, with subsequent rollouts to the 353,000 meters in the rest of its territory to follow. Automation of those 353,000 additional meters is still subject to approval, says Duquette, who was uncertain how much business would result from automating the first 21,000 meters.


The AMR technology will enable Suffolk County Water Authority to read its customers meters more often, which is something water utilities want to do, Duquette says.


Most water utilities only read meters four times a year and estimate readings the rest of the time, she says. Customers dont like estimated readings.


Automation will reduce the utilitys cost of reading meters and will reduce its meter-shop and back-office costs and bill complaint calls, Duquette says.


The contract shows momentum in the water market, which Itron wanted to do, Duquette says. The company has a nice position in the U.S. water AMR market, but faces a challenge because it doesnt sell its own water meter that uses the dominant technology deployed in the market, she says. Utilities usually replace water meters, which are subject to failure caused by corrosion and grit, when they automate them, Duquette says.


Itrons radio modules will be added to new water meters in the Suffolk County project, but the utility is obtaining the meters from another supplier, Duquette says. Itron continues to evaluate bringing out its own water meter for the U.S. market, and its Brussels, Belgium-based Actaris subsidiary makes the top-selling water meter in the world, although its meters use technologies deployed in other countries, Duquette says. She says that Itron could build a water meter for the U.S. market, but doesnt have a distribution channel for such a product thats anywhere near as well-established as its competitors distribution channels.


When Itron announced its first-quarter financial results on April 30, it said it had an order backlog of $683 million. Duquette says Itron cant comment on its order backlog again until after it announces its second-quarter earnings, which its scheduled to do on July 30.


Contact Richard Ripley at (509) 344-1261 or via e-mail at editor@spokanejournal.com