Midwestern utility to take advantage of Itron managed services,
OpenWay® cellular solution and analytics to
monitor for service interruptions
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), a world-leading technology and services
company dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water, announced
today that Otter Tail Power Company, an investor-owned utility that
provides electricity to customers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South
Dakota, has signed a contract with Itron to modernize and improve the
reliability of its electric grid. The utility will take advantage of
Itron Total Outcomes, a complete managed services offering using Itron
technology and analytics to deliver needed outcomes. In Otter Tail Power
Company's case, the utility needs greater awareness of service
interruptions across its territory to improve reliability.
Otter Tail Power Company continuously works to improve grid reliability
and wants to be as efficient as possible with its restoration efforts.
To help with this, Itron will manage reliability analytics on behalf of
the utility, using information from Itron's OpenWay smart grid solution
with cellular communications. Itron will then notify operators when
interruptions occur as well as pinpoint the circuits, phases and number
of customers involved. This will empower the utility to proactively
improve overall reliability, outage response and customer satisfaction.
Otter Tail Power Company will also perform historic outage analysis and
measure restoration performance. This enables operators to identify
poorly performing feeders and prioritize budget allocation for
infrastructure improvements and maintenance.
"Otter Tail Power Company was looking to replace our aging interruption
monitoring system with an Automated Metering Infrastructure (AMI)-based
offering that provides both historic and real-time outage analytics and
voltage monitoring capabilities on a single platform. We found that with
Itron, we'll have the technology and a team of experts to quickly get
the system up and running and provide results," said Rod Jensen, P.E.,
reliability engineer at Otter Tail Power Company. "With Itron's help, we
will be able to improve reliability while determining where to place
resources for vegetation management and infrastructure improvements."
"Itron Total Outcomes for reliability provides functionality similar to
a SCADA implementation, but at a fraction of startup and operational
costs. The managed services approach frees up Otter Tail Power Company's
resources to focus on pressing operational activities rather than
implementing and managing IT environments and AMI systems," said Bruce
Douglas, senior vice president and general manager of software and
services at Itron. "Itron's powerful analytics will help Otter Tail
Power Company harness the value of the data generated by Itron's smart
cellular solution so the utility can operate more efficiently and
deliver more reliable service to its customers."
About Itron
Itron is a world-leading technology and services company dedicated to
the resourceful use of energy and water. We provide comprehensive
solutions that measure, manage and analyze energy and water. Our broad
product portfolio includes electricity, gas, water and thermal energy
measurement devices and control technology; communications systems;
software; as well as managed and consulting services. With thousands of
employees supporting nearly 8,000 customers in more than 100 countries,
Itron applies knowledge and technology to better manage energy and water
resources. Together, we can create a more resourceful world. Join us: www.itron.com.
Itron® is a registered trademark of Itron, Inc. All third
party trademarks are property of their respective owners and any usage
herein does not suggest or imply any relationship between Itron and the
third party unless expressly stated.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161006005221/en/
Itron, Inc.
Vice President, Global Marketing and Public
Affairs
Sharelynn Moore, 509-891-3524
sharelynn.moore@itron.com
Source: Itron, Inc.
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