Canadian Municipality, the Region of Peel, Saves Taxpayers $8 million Using Itron Enterprise Energy Management Software.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- In less than two years, the Region of Peel (ROP), a municipality near Toronto, Canada, has saved its residents more than $8 million by using Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) energy management software tools to reduce energy costs and operate its numerous facilities more efficiently, according to the municipality's energy manager.

In May, 2004, the Region of Peel contracted with Itron for the company's Enterprise Energy Management (EEM) Suite of software to help manage energy consumption and expenditures at its facilities, and to forecast future energy demand. Itron EEM software solutions empower large energy users -- including manufacturing companies, college campuses, municipalities and government facilities, hospitals and other organizations with multiple facilities -- to identify specific areas to target for energy efficiency improvement, ensure utility billing accuracy, enhance the effectiveness of energy management and control systems, and optimize procurement of energy from suppliers.

In 2002, when Ontario moved from a monopoly-based electricity market to a deregulated, competitive electricity market, ROP's billing system was unable to take advantage of the cost breaks afforded by bulk energy purchases in a deregulated market.

"After deregulation, utility bills became highly complicated," said Steve Hall, director of corporate energy for Region of Peel. "The implementation of the Itron Enterprise Edition software allowed us to put in place a system of bill validation and verification. This resulted in a number of billing errors being caught, which captured loss revenue."

Using Itron Bill Analyst(TM), Meter Data Analyst(TM), and Advanced EEM Forecasting, Region of Peel saw savings through cost recovery from billing errors for both current and historical invoices, cost avoidance through accurate forecasting and securing hedge contracts, as well as analysis of facility types and consumption profiles to identify proper rate classifications and contractual opportunities.

"Just a few months ago, using Itron EEM software, we found $1.7 million worth of billing errors charged to 13 large accounts -- billing errors that started right after deregulation and were continually repeated," said Hall. "The savings the Region of Peel achieved directly benefits the residents of our municipality by ensuring their tax dollars are spent wisely and more efficiently."

Philip Mezey, senior vice president for Itron software solutions, said one of the key benefits of Itron's EEM software is that it changes an inefficient scattered bill payment system into a centralized energy bill management system from one location.

"That saves time and money," said Mezey. "You no longer have isolated silos of information. You have up-to-date, real-time data that takes the guess work out of bill and procurement decisions. Today, when energy costs are taking an increasingly bigger bite out of operational budgets, the Region of Peel is setting a new standard for energy efficiency and accountability."

About Itron

Itron is a leading technology provider and critical source of knowledge to the global energy and water industries. Nearly 3,000 utilities worldwide rely on Itron's award-winning technology to provide the knowledge they require to optimize the delivery and use of energy and water. Itron creates value for its clients by providing industry-leading solutions for electricity metering; meter data collection; energy information management; demand response; load forecasting, analysis and consulting services; distribution system design and optimization; web-based workforce automation; and enterprise and residential energy management. To know more, start here: www.itron.com.