Itron to Monitor Electric System in New Zealand

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — May 15, 2018 — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water, signed a contract with Network Waitaki Limited (NWL) in New Zealand to implement Itron’s Distribution Transformer Monitoring (DTM) solution. As a part of the contract, NWL will take advantage of Itron’s cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications for the operation of the DTM solution. With the solution, NWL can provide better quality of service to customers and gain more awareness into issues in the distribution network. 

Providing services predominantly to rural areas, NWL serves nearly 13,000 customers in New Zealand and covers 2,000 km of powerlines. Currently, the utility relies on a SCADA system for operational awareness, but it is limited to high-voltage network equipment. To improve outage management in the low-voltage network, NWL installed eight DTM units in 2016 as a trial and will install additional units in the next few years to implement a fully functional system. The solution provides timely and detailed visibility into the operational state of distribution transformers, enabling NWL to manage transformer performance and lifecycle based on actual operational conditions rather than using estimates and statistical modeling. NWL will be able to pinpoint distribution issues, improve maintenance and extend the lifetime of transformer assets. Taking advantage of Itron’s SaaS solution, the utility will also be able to remotely read the system, calculate transformer load, and collect and store data. 

 “With Itron’s solution, we will be able to increase our network awareness, especially at the low voltage level, improve outage management and harness detailed asset analysis,” Tod Trotman, NWL’s planning and asset manager said. “The solution will give us the ability to optimize our capital investments and improve system reliability, so we can increase customer satisfaction and take advantage of our transformer assets.”  

 “We are proud to collaborate with NWL to provide extremely valuable information that will help the utility protect assets and understand what is happening at the transformer level,” said Mark de Vere White, president of Itron’s Electricity business line. “Enabling NWL to optimize the use and life of its assets is a great example of how Itron is helping our customers be more resourceful.”