Itron Reaches Significant Milestone in the U.K., Delivers Four Millionth Smart Payment Electricity Meter

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — Feb. 27, 2014 — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced that it has reached a significant milestone in the U.K., delivering its four millionth ACE9000 KBD electricity smart payment meter. The KBD meters are currently supplied to all of the U.K.'s leading energy companies.

With Itron's smart payment solution, consumers pay in advance for the electricity they will consume, helping them understand their usage, budget accordingly, and repay any debt on their account. Thishelps simplify a utility's operations, reduces delinquent account risks and theft, and improves cash flow. Itron brings together state-of-the-art technology, architecture and managed services to ensure energy resources are used, paid for, and managed efficiently.

Itron is a leading provider of electricity smart payment solutions worldwide and has been delivering devices to the U.K.'s top six energy suppliers for over 20 years. The ACE9000 KBD smart payment meter, which uses a key to transfer credit that can be purchased in-store or online, is Itron's newest, most advanced prepayment meter. The smart payment solution also features Itron's managed services to run the backend operation on behalf of utilities.

"Itron has been providing smart payment solutions to utilities for a number of years and we are very pleased to have reached this milestone with our most advanced smart payment meter", said Nigel Hughes,Itron Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Deliveries for Energy in Northern Europe. "For energy consumers in the U.K., smart payment is an easy, more accessible way to budget their energy use. It is a testament to the ACE9000 KBD solution that it has proved so popular in terms of its user friendliness and data reporting capabilities."

With the U.K. mandating the use of smart meters which have the capability to switch between credit and prepayment, there is a strong chance that the U.K. will see an increase in take up of prepayment technology. However, due to the complexities of the market it is likely that the current crop of prepayment meters will be the last to be swapped for smart meters. "Itron are in the unique position of possessing a lot of knowledge around prepayment operations and we are sharing this knowledge with government and other stakeholders in order to aid the U.K.'s transition to smart. It is a challenging topic and one that requires a lot of attention before specifications can be produced and decisions made", added Nigel Hughes.