Looking back at Itron ERT Residential Energy Gateway

Update December 2010: Grid Insight is now making its AMR receiver technology available to utilities and integrators. See the product data sheet here: Grid Insight AMRUSB-1 Receiver for Itron ERT utility meters.

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And here I thought I had come up with something new. Nope. After some additional Google sleuthing, I have learned that at least one start-up developed an Itron ERT bridge device back in 2001. Moreover, Itron invested in this company and did joint press releases promoting the technology. But the details are confusing, as it seems that possibly up to three different efforts were going simultaneously. And all, apparently, were eventually killed by Itron.

From Itron's 2001 SEC 10-K filing:

Other activities included investments in and loans made to three companies--a web based wireless workforce management company, a developer of in-home energy gateway communication technology, and a meter reading services provider. ... We invested $500,000 in the home energy gateway communication technology company, which grants us exclusive rights to use and market their technology to customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and non-exclusive rights to use and market their technology elsewhere.

From a September 10, 2001 press release, it seems that the "in home energy gateway communication technology company" was International Utility Information Systems Corporation of Scotts Valley, California. The Energy Gateway device, "slightly larger than a deck of playing cards," provides basic ERT bridge functionality, ala Tendril Inc's TREE ERT bridge, and the independent prototype I built last month.

The Itron Energy Gateway receives metering data via radio signal from an Itron Encoder-Receiver-Transmitter (ERT) module installed on the property's electric meter and then communicates the information to a server at pre-scheduled intervals. The data can then be made available to the energy provider and the end consumer. In a home with an ERT-equipped electric meter and an Energy Gateway, meters can be read using traditional Itron automatic meter reading technology or with the Energy Gateway.

Those clever people at International Utility Information Systems Corporation (where are they now?) even envisioned the basic tenets recently outlined in Southern California Edison's (SCE) patent-pending SmartConnect use cases:

For example, with detailed data collected through the Energy Gateway, an energy provider will be able to predict more accurately when supply and demand imbalances may occur, Eggleston said. The provider could then use the Energy Gateway to remotely adjust the customer's thermostat, if so equipped, within agreed-upon parameters, to achieve necessary load reduction targets. ... Through a web interface, consumers will be able to monitor their energy consumption, make changes in their usage, or override curtailment initiatives.

I sure hope the USPTO reads this article before granting the SCE patent. Strangely, another press release, issued just a day later on (the infamous) September 11, 2001, says the following:

Sage Systems and Itron Develop Technology to Enable In-home Energy Management and Automatic Meter Reading via the Internet.

ALAMEDA Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 2001

New Technology Will Work In Conjunction With Over 17.5 Million Itron Radio-based Meter Modules Installed To Date

Sage Systems, the leading provider of narrowband technology for networking everyday devices via the Internet, and Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) today announced they have partnered to deliver a new energy monitoring solution that will connect meters to the Internet, with the initial focus on electric meters. The technology will give electric, gas and water utilities the ability to create networked Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems by leveraging the public telecommunications infrastructure.

The Sage/Itron solution takes advantage of Itron's Encoder-Receiver-Transceiver (ERT) meter-mounted modules that allow electric, gas and water meters to be read using radio communications. Over 17.5 million Itron ERTs have been deployed to date, the majority of which are being read with a walk-by or drive-by solution using Itron's R/F data collection technology. The Sage/Itron offering bundles a new product under development from Itron, the ERT reader/receiver, that communicates through a serial port to Sage's new Aladn ERT Powerline Interface (EPI). The bundled Sage/Itron solution is networked to an Aladn Internet Gateway^TM using the existing electric wires in the home. As a result, the new Sage/Itron solution will allow meter data to be accessed via the Web without any new house wiring. Energy providers will be able to gather meter data from the Aladn Internet Gateway using a combination of pager, telephone, or high-speed Internet, depending on the type of system installed.

"By co-developing technology with Itron, we are leveraging the communications abilities of both the ERT and Aladn to satisfy a huge market need - essentially Web-enabling non-Internet enabled meters," said Steve Raschke, president & CEO of Sage Systems. "The addition of this technology to the Aladn suite of energy management products could result in the installation of millions of Aladn Internet Gateways, which Sage can then leverage to bring benefits to homeowners, utilities and purveyors of other Aladn-powered products."

In addition to the operational cost benefits provided to utilities by AMR technology, the new offering will provide time-of-use information, without the expense and difficulty of replacing meters, which will result in cost effective, exciting new options for load curtailment and other energy management solutions for both utilities and consumers. For example, one of Sage's Aladn-powered products is a thermostat that communicates with the Sage/Itron meter solution to display the current energy consumption or cost to the homeowner, information that is essential in order to change energy consumption behavior. The Sage/Itron solution also offers load profiling functionality, enabling utilities and energy service providers to manage their energy trading position based on real-time usage data.

"With Itron and Sage's combined energy monitoring, reporting and narrowband networking technology, Web-based AMR is now available in pilot form," said Larry Eggleston, Itron's vice president of business development and strategy. When commercially available, this solution will give energy providers new options for transforming their meter reading processes and adding increased value to their customers by providing critical knowledge about how and when energy is used. "Itron designs technology to accommodate the inevitability of change so that customers can meet their needs today while laying the foundation to migrate to more advanced solutions when and where they need them. Utilization of Itron's existing ERT meter modules in this solution is another example of our commitment to customer value," added Eggleston.

Then, in a January 2003 AMRA Newsletter article entitled "Rural Washington PUD Tests Value-Added AMR Technology", author Betsy Loeff tells us about a trial in rural Washington State based on an Energy Gateway:

Itron's technology, which incorporates software from Lanthorn Technologies (formerly Project Yangtze), also uses high-speed Internet access to deliver data and send signals. "What Itron did was use a gateway to access our utility's gateway," Perez says. "Itron installed a separate gateway inside the project participant's home that transfers meter data from the ERT and to our gateway outside the home." This data is then transferred via the Internet to the utility's server and translated into a Web presentment tool utilized by both the utility and the end customer.

Itron's Residential Energy Gateway:

• Reads Itron's existing electric meter ERT modules and records 15-minute interval data.
• Controls a thermostat installed in the home for load control and home automation.
• Initiates the connection to Itron's server through a secure Internet connection, which delivers interval meter reads--plus it transmits and receives control messaging for the thermostat.
• Allows consumers to monitor and control their energy usage via the Internet.

What the hell happened? Was the trial so much of a flop that Itron killed the whole project? If so, what does that tell us about the viability of such solutions? I think the quote from Rudy Perez of Grant County Public Utility District is telling (emphasis added): "If everyone in the county had central air and this Itron technology, we'd be looking at saving about 60 megawatts of power during a demand response event lasting approximately two hours. But right now, our capacity and energy market conditions do not justify demand-side management".

In the end, the utility company did not have sufficient financial incentive to deploy the Itron Energy Gateway to exploit demand management. Reducing consumption would have hurt their revenues.

Seeing that so much emphasis is now being placed on the smart grid as a vehicle for both economic recovery and energy security, can we rely merely on short-term federal incentives to ensure deployment of demand management technology? Or is a longer-term solution needed? If so, what will it look like?