EWT: Briefly explain how the need for greater energy management and efficiency has impacted, and continues to impact, your organization.

Spaur: Itron is in the business of optimizing the delivery and use of energy and water. Our solutions allow utilities to measure consumption, to automate meter data collection, to securely and efficiently manage meter data, and to apply that data to a broad spectrum of business, operational, and customer service tasks. The need for greater energy management drives us to broaden and deepen our solutions. As one specific example, we've developed an advanced energy metering solution that includes ZigBee communications built into our solid-state residential electricity meter and our natural gas metering modules.

EWT: Please explain why your organization selected ZigBee technology? Did you consider any other alternatives?

Spaur: Itron products work with a large array of communication technologies: Internet, cellular, telephone, power line, and wireless radio. We choose these technologies because they provide cost-effective ways to meet customer needs. For our advanced metering solution, we selected ZigBee because it's an open communication standard that meets our customer's need for reliable and affordable communications of a reasonably small amount of data over a relatively small distance. Wi-Fi has too much capacity and range, and is too expensive to build into every meter. Bluetooth has too much capacity, not enough range and is expensive. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is inexpensive, but doesn't handle enough data or range. In contrast, ZigBee has just the right data capacity and broadcast range, at the right cost, for home and building networks dedicated to energy management.

EWT: How is your organization benefiting from ZigBee?

Spaur: Itron reaps several benefits from ZigBee. Through its affordability and flexibility, ZigBee makes it easy for Itron to offer or support additional capabilities in energy management. And, because it's an open standard, ZigBee allows Itron to choose from among several vendors for its wireless communication components to build into its meters. Openness allows Itron to work with a variety of partners in delivering compatible devices and services. ZigBee is also an international standard. While our solutions have to adapt to various communication spectrums around the globe, ZigBee is a worldwide constant. That makes it easier for us to create and deliver wireless solutions globally.

EWT: Can you explain how ZigBee is helping your customers?

Spaur: Our customers are predominantly utilities. ZigBee helps utilities build a standard, flexible platform for energy management. That might not sound like much, but energy management can replace building new power plants, which saves on costs and fuel consumption and minimizes environmental impact. Utilities also have their own customers as well. ZigBee helps utility customers exercise more control over their energy consumption, allowing them to reduce their bills and lower their carbon footprint without sacrificing their comfort and convenience.

EWT:Are there any new opportunities that the adoption of ZigBee has brought to your organization?

Spaur: The main opportunity Itron has gained from adopting ZigBee is the ability to open our solutions to work with other vendors to deliver more energy management functionality for utilities and their customers. Itron has a large presence in the utility world, but we can't be everything to everybody. Open standards like ZigBee make it easier for us to partner with other companies to help meet customer's needs. In one specific example, we've been able to partner with Comverge (www.comverge.com) to offer residential demand response as an integral component of our advanced metering solution. The openness of ZigBee allows Itron smart meters to communicate with Comverge smart thermostats to help customers lower their heating and cooling bills without sacrificing their comfort (see the figure).

Itron Inc. is a leading technology provider to the global energy and water industries. Itron consists of Itron in North America and Actaris outside of North America. The company is a world-leading provider of metering, data collection and utility software solutions, with nearly 8,000 utilities worldwide relying on its technology to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. The company's products include electricity, gas and water meters; data collection and communication systems, including automated meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI); meter data management and related software applications; project management, installation, and consulting services. For more information, go to www.itron.com.

Matthew Spaur works in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) business development at Itron Inc. Spaur has spent three years at Itron helping to define and promote the value of meter data in improving utility business processes. He has authored papers and presentations on Itron software solutions for collecting, managing, analyzing, and applying meter data. Prior to joining Itron, Spaur managed a weekly paper for four years and held a number of roles at Microsoft Corp. including senior technical writer, writing manager, and program manager.