Itron is a company that enables utilities and cities to safely, securely and reliably deliver critical infrastructure services to communities in more than 100 countries. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Iton’s SVP of Device Solutions Justin Patrick to learn more about the company.
Justin Patrick’s Background
What is Justin Patrick’s background? Patrick said:
“I am a mechanical engineer with an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. I attended college on a Navy ROTC scholarship and served as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy for nearly eight years. Following my military service, I entered the HVAC industry, spending eight years at Carrier Corporation and another ten at Johnson Controls, where I held leadership roles in product management, sales, and general management. Before joining Itron in 2020, I led Johnson Controls’ residential HVAC business. Here at Itron, I am responsible for the company’s portfolio of smart endpoints, including water, gas, and electric meters and sensors. My primary focus has been transitioning Itron’s portfolio from mechanical measurement to solid-state metrology, while implementing platform architecture and modularity principles to enhance efficiency. Through these initiatives, my team has increased operating income by 10 percentage points, showcasing the impact of innovation and strategic execution.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Patrick shared:
“Itron was founded in 1977 with the goal of creating newer and more efficient processes to read meters and bill customers with greater accuracy. Itron’s earliest product was a portable computer to input meter reading in the field, to then in the 80’s when handheld computers were introduced, then in the 90’s when Itron introduced Automated Meter Reading for remote data collection.”
“At the turn of the century, Itron further advanced its offerings by transitioning to digital technology with the first solid-state electricity meter. Just a short eight years later in 2007, Itron improved utility operations with smart grid technology, launching Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Since then, Itron has remained committed to expanding its offerings into next generation technology such as smart cities and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which was demonstrated by the acquisition of Silver Spring Networks in 2018.”
“Today, Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence solutions are equipped with distributed intelligence to help address critical challenges that today’s grid faces and improve a utilities ability to react to changes in the grid in near real time.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Patrick reflected:
“One memory comes from a visit last summer with a water customer in Australia who uses our water end-to-end solution. We launched a new product for that region, and they were the first customer to integrate it as part of a plan to upgrade existing infrastructure. New products take a couple of years to launch, and we worked closely with them the entire time to make sure we met their requirements and timelines. It was special when I visited in August, because I was able to see these endpoints installed. During this visit, the customer demonstrated live on their system how they were managing endpoints, collecting data, accurately measuring customers’ water consumption, and managing leaks in their water infrastructure. It was exciting to see, firsthand, the results of our collaboration with our customer.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Patrick explained:
“Itron’s solutions help utilities, cities and citizens globally to better manage energy and water. Our integrated, intelligent platform starts with our portfolio of endpoints (such as sensors, switches and meters) that collect data, control devices and act in the field. From there, Itron’s advanced communication networks aggregate the data and deliver it to where it’s needed. Finally, Itron’s software and services turn that data into insights, allowing our customers to improve operational efficiency, system resilience and reliability, consumer engagement, demand management and profitability.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Patrick and the team face in building the company? Patrick acknowledged:
“Over the last few years, the world went through the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply chain impacts that followed, Itron included. Specifically, Itron was challenged by not having enough components to be able to fulfill customer demand. Thanks to a company wide effort, we were able to strengthen our supply chain resiliency, through product enhancements, coupled with new product introductions. This strategy included component qualifications and multi-sourcing, as well as a multi-site manufacturing strategy. These efforts, coupled with better supply over the last couple of years, have cleared the way for Itron to stay focused on and achieve growth.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since its launch? Patrick noted:
“Itron’s innovations have fueled the industry for almost 50 years. Since our founding in 1977, Itron’s solutions have expanded from helping utilities walk or drive by a meter or endpoint and record consumption so they could bill customers, to where we are today with edge intelligence, analytics and AI. These advanced solutions are helping our customers solve complex challenges while accelerating the transition to cleaner energy and water. Itron is transitioning the technology in our endpoints from mechanical measurement to solid state metrology for more data, creating more resilient, multi-transport networks to harvest that data, and embedding applications in the endpoints that enable the edge intelligence.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Patrick cited:
“In 2024, Itron achieved many significant milestones, demonstrating innovation, customer success and industry leadership. This includes shipping more than 12 million distributed intelligence (DI)-enabled endpoints, including the celebration of Xcel Energy’s 2 millionth DI-enabled meter, an essential step toward providing cleaner, safer and more reliable energy to nearly 3.7 million customers. On an awards front, Itron was recognized with a 2024 IoT Edge Computing Award for leadership in edge computing, and we won two NAVEX Excellence Awards: the Excellence in Ethics & Compliance Award and the Risk & Compliance Program of the Year, reinforcing our commitment to strong governance.”
“Itron also made significant strides in strategic partnerships, announcing key collaborations with GE Vernova, Schneider Electric, The Mobility House, and Voda.ai, reinforcing our commitment to advancing utility and energy solutions. The company expanded our product portfolio with the launch of the Grid Edge Intelligence portfolio, which provides utilities with enhanced visibility and control from the grid edge to the substation. Additionally, Itron introduced our Low Voltage Distributed Energy Resource Management System (LV DERMS) to the Australian market, designed to help utilities optimize and manage distributed energy resources such as solar, wind, electric vehicles, and battery storage. Another major launch was the wSource static water meter, which offers an end-to-end solution for utilities and municipalities to detect leaks more effectively and measure water flow with greater accuracy, ultimately conserving substantial amounts of previously lost water.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Patrick about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“Itron is actively collaborating with leading utilities to enhance energy management and support the transition to a more sustainable grid. In collaboration with PG&E, Itron is making electric vehicle (EV) charging more accessible and affordable for PG&E’s customers. By optimizing charging patterns, this initiative helps balance demand, reducing strain on the electrical infrastructure.”
“Additionally, Itron is working with Xcel Energy in Colorado to manage the growing number of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar and wind power. This collaboration focuses on integrating renewables more efficiently, ensuring a stable and balanced energy distribution system. Through these partnerships, Itron continues to drive innovation in grid modernization, renewable energy integration, and energy optimization.”
“Another collaboration that comes to mind is with Provo Water, and the work the teams did to significantly improve water conservation and disaster recovery efforts through the implementation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. Provo Water, which relies on electricity-intensive seawater desalination, faced major challenges in managing water loss. The shift to automated metering enabled real-time leak detection, reducing the time required for identification and repairs from up to two weeks to mere hours. The value of this technology was especially evident after Hurricane Irma in 2017, which caused a 50% loss of reserves—approximately 3 million gallons—affecting critical infrastructure such as homes, schools, hospitals, and the airport. With Itron’s AMI system in place, Provo Water fully restored services and pressurized the network within just two and a half weeks, a process that previously took months.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Patrick affirmed:
“Itron sets itself apart with its expansive and comprehensive portfolio, which includes intelligent networks, software, services, endpoints and sensors—empowering customers with greater visibility and control over their distribution systems, whether its gas, water or electricity. Itron has shipped more than 270 million intelligent endpoints globally, including more than 12 million distributed intelligent endpoints, and has over 250 partners leveraging a broad ecosystem of solutions.”
“Itron’s approach is centered on building secure and reliable connected communities to offer numerous new services and opportunities through its intelligent industrial IoT platform. This is the Itron difference.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the future company goals? Patrick concluded:
“In the coming year, Itron looks forward to advancing our solutions with increased deployment of AI and ML in our offerings, the development of strategic global collaborations, as well as enabling even more grid edge intelligence.”
“Our goal is to support our customers around the globe in upgrading their infrastructure needs to cope with an ever evolving and challenged industry, specifically addressing impacts from weather volatility, increasing demand for power, mitigating cybersecurity threats and improving reliability of services. These things aren’t optional if we want a thriving, growing society. Those macro trends drive growth in our business and provide expanded opportunities for Itron.”
