Itron Partners with Microsoft to Enhance AI Solutions for Utilities

Itron, Inc. (ITRI) has formed a partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) to introduce groundbreaking generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) technologies to utilities and cities. This collaboration aims to improve data accessibility, enhance decision-making, and boost operational efficiency by integrating Microsoft’s Copilot AI technology into Itron’s Intelligent Edge Operating System (IEOS).

Set to be launched globally in the second quarter of 2025, this AI-driven platform will serve as a virtual assistant for utility operators. It will enable them to quickly access insights related to metering, customer usage, network performance, and distributed energy resources, including solar, wind, and battery storage.

The IEOS platform is the foundation of Itron’s Grid Edge Intelligence (GEI) solutions. Powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, these solutions are built to securely process and analyze data at the grid’s edge. This capability allows utilities to obtain real-time insights directly from field operations, facilitating faster responses and more intelligent operations. The initial applications utilizing this AI-enhanced platform include Itron’s IEE Meter Data Management System and Operations Optimizer.

With these tools, utility operators can conduct natural language queries, simplifying the process of generating reports and analyses without requiring advanced technical skills. Gen AI equips utilities to retrieve insights through intuitive interactions, as IEOS, along with Microsoft Copilot, comprehends, interprets, and responds effectively.

Key Advantages of Itron’s IEOS with Gen AI

This collaboration significantly enhances Itron’s GEI portfolio, enabling utilities and municipalities to elevate service delivery, improve resource management, and support sustainability initiatives. One notable advantage of AI-driven analytics is its ability to detect unusual consumption patterns, such as identifying super-users. This insight allows for targeted behavioral programs that can help customers optimize their usage, ultimately fostering greater customer satisfaction and enhanced energy conservation.

Data validation remains pivotal in utility operations. Through AI’s analysis of validation rules across utility networks, the platform can identify frequently failing rules, enabling system administrators to implement necessary improvements. This leads to heightened data accuracy, reduced errors, and more effective operations. Additionally, IEOS allows for seamless integration of new components and analytics tools, promoting innovation and decreasing the time required for new capabilities to take effect.

The advanced platform also supports utilities in accessing and analyzing data from multiple sources, including Itron IEE Meter Data Management, distributed intelligence applications, and other integrated sources. Moreover, with AI-integrated queries, users can pull data from various sources—such as distributed energy resource holdings, billing data, and grid topology—to create comprehensive reports and visual data representations.

Furthermore, the integration of IEOS and Copilot can generate reports, charts, and graphs through natural language commands. AI not only analyzes data but also provides recommendations and feedback to enhance data quality and accuracy.

ITRI Enhances Utility Operations with AI Innovations

Despite the vast potential of AI-driven solutions, many utilities face challenges due to a lack of expertise in AI and data analytics. Industry reports indicate that 43% of utilities view the absence of AI knowledge as a significant hurdle to adoption. However, Itron’s AI-enabled IEOS addresses this issue by offering pre-integrated AI capabilities that do not require coding skills.

Itron, Inc. Price and Consensus

Itron, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Itron, Inc. Quote

The company remains attuned to the fast-evolving energy landscape by launching innovative products with advanced AI capabilities, addressing utilities’ challenges while focusing on long-term growth. Among its latest offerings is IntelliFLEX, a tool that integrates DER aggregation, forecasting, and AI-driven load balancing across various technologies.

Additionally, Itron has partnered with NVIDIA to advance AI-powered solutions at the grid edge. This effort supports utilities and communities in enhancing grid resilience, disaster management, consumer engagement, efficiency, and energy security as they face future challenges. This collaboration aims to fuse Itron’s GEI with NVIDIA’s AI technology to deliver real-time, high-quality data for a more intelligent and adaptable energy future.

Robust market demand, supported by opportunities in grid resiliency, capacity, safety, and automation, contributes to positive growth prospects. This growth results from the continuous adoption of its grid intelligence platform, which has shipped 13.4 million distributed intelligence endpoints and licensed over 15 million applications.

Itron’s 2024 bookings totaled $2.7 billion, reflecting a book-to-bill ratio of 1:1. The backlog mainly includes content related to its grid-edge intelligence platform from the Network Solutions and Outcomes segments, encompassing more than 10 million endpoints and related components. Considering the back-end-loaded nature of 2024 bookings and the typical time lag between bookings and revenue, most of the new bookings are expected to add to revenues beyond 2025. Accordingly, Itron anticipates its 2025 revenue to range from $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.

ITRI’s Zacks Rank and Stock Price Performance

Itron currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The stock has appreciated 18.6% in the past year, contrasting with a 7.3% decline in the Zacks Electronics – Testing Equipment industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Other Investment Opportunities

Several other highly ranked stocks from the broader technology sector include InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC) and Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET). IDCC presently holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while ANET carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can view the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

IDCC is recognized for pioneering advanced mobile technologies that enable wireless communications. The company focuses on designing and developing a variety of advanced technology solutions utilized in digital cellular and wireless 3G, 4G, and IEEE 802-related products. It boasts a long-term growth expectation of 15%.

Meanwhile, Arista has recorded a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 12.87% and anticipates a long-term growth rate of 14.41%. It provides products to various high-profile clients, including Fortune 500 companies in sectors like cloud computing, enterprise, finance, and specialized cloud services.

Explore Top Stocks for Immediate Growth

Recently released: Experts have curated a list of 7 elite stocks from Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys, identifying them as “Most Likely for Early Price Pops.”

This historical list has outperformed the market by over twofold since 1988, averaging a gain of +24.3% annually. Ensure you give these hand-picked stocks your immediate attention.

See them now >>

Interested in the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download the report on the 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to access this free report.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis report.

Itron, Inc. (ITRI): Free Stock Analysis report.

InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC): Free Stock Analysis report.

Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET): Free Stock Analysis report.

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.