LIBERTY LAKE, WA — May 19, 2008 — Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today that its OpenWay CENTRON® solid-state electricity meter and OpenWay Gas Module are now ZigBee certified products using the ZigBee Smart Energy public application profile.
Made possible by the ZigBee Alliance, the profile offers consumers and utility companies a global open standard for implementing secure, easy-to-use wireless home area networks for managing energy. The OpenWay CENTRON meter and OpenWay Gas Module join a growing list of the profile’s compatible devices including programmable communicating thermostats, in-home energy displays, load control switches and more.
“Interoperable communication in advanced metering is crucial for energy management and conservation,” said Philip Mezey, senior vice president and COO of Itron North America. “Itron depends on ZigBee Smart Energy to provide the foundation for demand response and to support a competitive marketplace of energy management devices.”
OpenWay by Itron is an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution built around OpenWay CENTRON smart electricity meters and two-way communication networks between a utility and each meter. OpenWay delivers operational efficiency, empowers all customers to participate in energy management and conservation, and supports smart energy transmission and distribution grids. ZigBee Smart Energy improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to manage their energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time information while having the ability to choose from a large global ecosystem of companies supplying interoperable products.
“Itron played a major role in the development of ZigBee Smart Energy for the ZigBee Alliance,” said Brent Hodges, vice president of marketing for the ZigBee Alliance. “We’re happy to see the OpenWay CENTRON meter and the OpenWay Gas Module join the growing list of ZigBee Smart Energy certified products.”
About Itron:
Itron Inc. is a leading technology provider to the global energy and water industries. Itron Inc. consists of Itron in North America and Actaris outside of North America. Our company is the world’s leading provider of metering, data collection and utility software solutions, with nearly 8,000 utilities worldwide relying on our technology to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Our products include electricity, gas and water meters, data collection and communication systems, including automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); meter data management and related software applications; as well as project management, installation and consulting services. To know more, start here: www.itron.com.
About the ZigBee Alliance:
The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies working together to enable reliable, cost-effective, low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee Alliance membership comprises technology providers and manufacturers worldwide. Membership is open to all. Additional information can be found at www.zigbee.org.
For additional information, contact:
Kim Papich, Itron Communications and Marketing
(509) 891-3590
kim.papich@itron.com
For the ZigBee Alliance:
Kevin Schader
(925) 275-6672
kschader@inventures.com
