April 2026
Member Spotlight
In 2026, we will recognize one member each month, providing an organizational profile and highlighting the member's accomplishments in the smart energy space.
About Itron
Itron is the intelligent infrastructure provider for modern energy and water management. The company is transforming how the world manages energy, water and city services. Itron’s trusted intelligent infrastructure solutions help utilities and cities improve efficiency, build resilience and deliver safe, reliable and affordable service. With edge intelligence, the company connects people, data insights and devices so communities can better manage the essential resources they rely on to live and thrive. Learn more at www.itron.com.
Empowering Modern Energy Management
Modern civilization depends on energy and water systems that must never fail. Yet these systems are under unprecedented strain from surging demand, extreme weather and aging infrastructure. The need to expand and upgrade utility networks is no longer a choice – it is an inevitability.
The future of reliable, resilient utility systems depends on real-time intelligence. Itron provides intelligent infrastructure that powers the modern management of energy and water, turning asset operators into real-time system managers balancing affordability, reliability and resilience.
But as utilities build this modern foundation, the very nature of the grid – and the way consumers interact with it – is changing. The rise of new technologies and distributed energy resources (DERs) is transforming the traditional model, shifting roles and responsibilities for both utilities and their customers.
DERs, like rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles, are turning what was once a one-way transaction into a two-way exchange. For end consumers, that shift creates new ways to manage costs, resilience and sustainability. For utilities, it introduces bidirectional power flows, faster-changing load shapes and a planning environment that can no longer rely solely on historical assumptions. The result is an evolving relationship: utilities are moving from being energy providers to becoming energy enablers, helping customers participate in the grid in ways that benefit both households and system reliability.
Traditional utility planning models were built for a centralized grid with predictable generation, largely passive demand and limited real-time observability. In a decentralized future, utilities need planning and operations to converge around more granular, time-sensitive data, especially at the grid edge where many customer-owned DERs connect. That’s where the customer relationship becomes strategic. Customer-owned devices and choices are increasingly part of the resource mix utilities must understand, forecast and coordinate.
Becoming an “enabler” starts with connecting data, devices and decisions across the distribution network. When utilities can see what’s happening in near real time on feeders, transformers and at the endpoint, they can communicate with customers more clearly, target programs more precisely and respond faster when conditions change. In practice, this means shifting from periodic engagement (a bill, an outage notice) to more continuous engagement that supports flexible demand, electrification and DER adoption without compromising reliability.
To enable this shift, Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio captures high-quality consumer usage and grid data (e.g., voltage, current, power quality) so utilities can detect issues sooner and create a common operating picture that bridges planning and operations. As part of this, Itron’s IntelliFLEX grid edge DERMS provides visibility and control of DERs so utilities can forecast impacts, manage constraints and support customer programs that reward flexibility. This allows utilities to create opportunities for customers to participate in demand response, managed charging or virtual power plant-style programs, with measurement and verification that build trust.
The next era of enhancing the customer experience is inseparable from grid modernization. Real-time, high-quality data enables utilities and their customers to work together more dynamically and flexibly than ever before. With grid edge intelligence and DER coordination, utilities can build a more resilient, customer-participatory grid – one where consumers are empowered partners and the system is stronger because of their participation.
