Illinois Utilities Share Itron AMI Network to Support Meter Modernization

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — March 7, 2023 — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water, today announced Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group, are working together with ComEd, an energy provider to more than 4 million customers, to share ComEd’s existing Itron advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) multi-purpose network to support smart technology that will streamline natural gas meter reading to create efficiencies and lower carbon emissions.

Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas serve more than 1 million customers in the greater Chicago area and will benefit from secure access to ComEd’s existing industrial IoT (IIoT) network. As a result, there is no need to build a separate, single-purpose network. This approach accelerates benefits for Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas and the end-customers they serve.

This collaboration marks a significant partnership between two large investor-owned utilities to share the same network infrastructure across common service territories. Up to now, Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas have read their customers’ meters by driving a vehicle down every street and transmitting data from each meter via radio signal. AMI will significantly reduce utility vehicles from the street, eliminating more than 580,000 driving miles per year and 626 tons of carbon emissions per year. In addition to helping the environment, the estimated $5.5 million per year cost savings from the reduced driving and other efficiencies will more than offset the cost of AMI.

Innovation among the three utilities will contribute not only to environmental sustainability but also customer satisfaction. With more frequent access to meter data, customers of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas will gain better visibility into their energy consumption.

“The smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure are delivering benefits not only for ComEd customers but for other Illinois utilities, and we’re eager to demonstrate the value of these investments to the customers we share with Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas,” said Terence Donnelly, president and COO at ComEd.

“Using AMI will reduce costs for customers and enhance our level of service,” said Torrence Hinton, president at Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. “Combined with the environmental benefits, this is a great step forward for everyone we serve, and across the Chicago region.”

“The state of Illinois is emerging as a model for AMI and for other utilities on how innovative networked solutions can be leveraged to reach sustainability, operational goals and deliver end customer benefits,” said John Marcolini, senior vice president of Networks at Itron. “We are thrilled to watch these three innovative utilities exemplify how sharing network infrastructure and collaborating across utility providers can create greener, more resilient and sustainable communities.”

This gas meter modernization project launched in 2022. In the coming years Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas will upgrade 1 million endpoints to make them compatible with the ComEd IIoT network. Since 2013, Itron and ComEd have collaborated in deploying smart utility and city solutions. From AMI, distribution automation, smart city programs, to the most recent project, deployment of Itron smart streetlights, Itron has helped ComEd deliver record-level reliability by leveraging its network.