Itron Announces Release of its 80W-i Water Meter Endpoint

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — June 11, 2009 — Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today the release of its 80W-i water meter endpoint, a innovative, integrated automated meter reading (AMR) module for Itron’s family of water meters, including the Flostar, Multimag and Woltex.

“Combining the 80W-i and Itron meters into a single offering delivers increased meter accuracy over a wide-range of flow rates along with proven AMR performance,” said Thomas Butler, director of water product marketing for Itron. “Add in the choices and flexibility inherent to our ChoiceConnect™ AMR data collection suite, and water utilities are afforded an unsurpassed automated reading solution. With the 80W-i, utilities can migrate between data collection systems as their business needs change.”

The 80W-i differentiates itself with installation and maintenance improvements including a wire-free connection to the meter, as well as easy retrofitting to existing Itron meters in the field. The module also introduces enhanced power output for increased radio performance in RF-unfriendly pit environments.

The 80W-i is developed with Itron’s field proven performance and compliments its line of highly accurate Itron meters. The endpoint offers standard consumption messages, tamper alerts and behind-the-meter leak detection, while boasting a 20-year battery life, as well as low- or high-output power.

The City of Maryville, Tenn., recently deployed the new 80W-i along with Flostar meters and immediately realized benefits. Along with accounting for actual usage attributed to the higher accuracy of the Flostar meters, Maryville experienced read rate with the 80W-ithat exceeded expectations and decreased the number of missed reads and shortened route times.

“More than anything, Itron’s introduction of the 80W-i module is a reflection of our responsiveness to the needs of our customers,” concluded Butler. “In our efforts to help utilities reduce labor costs, increase billing accuracy and improve customer service, the 80W-i is an integral part of our meter and AMR solution.”

The 80W-i is used exclusively with Itron water meters and can be read by the full suite of ChoiceConnect™ collection systems such as the FC200SR and FC300SR handhelds; the MC Lite and MC3 mobile collection systems; and the Fixed Network and related software applications, including MV-RS® and Field Collection System.