Itron Inc., of Spokane, is developing a radio-based data collection system for the meters of commercial and industrial energy users, and expects to begin producing the equipment here during the second half of this year.


Mima Scarpelli, Itrons director of investor relations, says Itron believes that as the electrical industry continues to deregulate, it will increase its focus on serving the needs of commercial and industrial customers, and such users will buy power from many different suppliers to take advantage of the lowest available rates. In such a deregulated environment, with buyers obtaining power from different suppliers even on the same day, the ability to measure the supply and use of energy on a constant basis will become critical, she says.


To serve those customers better, Itron reorganized its operations last year into two main divisions, residential systems and commercial and industrial, or C&I, systems. Each division focuses on the strategically different needs of its particular market.


For the past several years, Itron has been developing software specifically for the C&I market, Scarpelli says. Last year, it expanded its software offerings to handle billings of C&I customers who buy power under complex rates and schedules, to deliver meter data and information via the Internet, and to store large amounts of meter data.


Most of the Itron employees who currently work in the C&I systems division are located at the companys office in Raleigh, S.C., because that office is developing the C&I systems software, Scarpelli says.


When manufacturing of the system begins here later this year, it wont have much impact on Itrons employment in Spokane, at least initially, she says. In the long run, however, Itrons work force here could grow if orders for the data collection system are strong, Scarpelli says.


The system currently is being tested in the field at a handful of locations. The system is designed for smaller to mid-sized C&I customers because it provides the benefits of advanced metering at a lower cost by eliminating the ongoing expense of dedicated phone lines.


Scarpelli says that traditionally, utilities have collected data from key C&I customer meters using technology that transmits data via a dedicated phone line connected to each meter. Though the cost of that kind of telecommunication service can be high, typically a utilitys big C&I customers represent a significant portion of total revenue, and thus the utilitys expense for providing such service to large customers can be justified. For smaller customers, however, the cost often is prohibitive.


Itrons system uses radio-based communications technology to create local area computer-like networks to read meters within a geographical area. It then uses just one telephone line or cellular link to route data collected from all the meters in that area to a utility.


For instance, Scarpelli says, Itrons system could be installed in a strip mall, in which each store has an electric or gas meter. Each meter would be equipped with an Itron external meter modem, which would transmit metering data through a system of electronic relays to a hub located nearby. The data then would be routed via a single phone line to the utilitys main computer.