Day one of Itron Inspire has officially come to a close and our premier, customer-focused event is off to a great start! We’re feeling inspired after a day of thought leadership panels, networking events and numerous customer-led breakout sessions that addressed the realities of the current energy landscape and opportunities to create a better connected, more resourceful world.

If you missed day one of #ItronInspire22 or need a refresher, here are a few of the highlights:

Driving the Digital Transformation

To kick off the first day of the Knowledge Center, attendees heard from Alectra CEO Brian Bentz, and Itron CEO Tom Deitrich, for the opening keynote. Both leaders shared their take on the ongoing transformation of our industry, the increasing importance of real-time analytic insights and how more intelligence opens the door to more possibilities. As utilities and cities across the globe continue to navigate dynamic forces on the grid, visibility at the grid edge will become imperative to ensure proactive response to the issues of today and sufficient preparation for the challenges of tomorrow.

Deploying Intelligence for a Smarter Future

A major theme of Itron Inspire 2022 can be summed up in one word: data. In one session, Deploying Distributed Intelligence to Discover a Smart Energy Future, attendees heard from Mel Gehrs, technical sales engineer at Itron, about how distributed intelligence (DI) deployments support a solid business case, the value of DI with a use case from CenterPoint Energy and the ability for utilities to strategically aggregate specific types of data like never before. Real-time data analytics offer numerous possibilities for improvements, efficiencies and new products and services. As utilities navigate challenges related to extreme weather, unpredictable demand from EVs and more, it is critical to prepare for issues such as outages and overloads before they occur or become catastrophic.

Accelerating Modernization

Monday afternoon’s Big Picture Session, Unlocking Intelligence to Accelerate Modernization, discussed how utilities can harness the full value of data to transform the way they deliver energy and water to customers and improve quality of life for residents. Julie Gardner, Technology Leader of the AMI Smart Grid and Data Analytics Team at Florida Power and Light (FPL), shared insight into the success FPL has experienced with data by leveraging AMI to build a sustainable platform in the cloud, putting the right security in place and establishing a platform for future use cases. Moving forward, FPL is focused on understanding the opportunities available to the utility with DI – including load shed technology, demand side management programs, new edge-computing technologies and more.

Women Shaping the Industry

The day concluded with an engaging Women in Utilities session. The discussion highlighted the experiences and perspectives of women at the forefront of the energy industry who are driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The session included leaders from EPIcenter, Hydro One, Peoples Gas and ComEd, and created space for a thoughtful conversation about paving the way for women in an often male-dominated field.

We hope you enjoyed day one of Itron Inspire 2022 as much as we did! To keep up with live updates throughout the conference, follow Itron and #ItronInspire22 on social media.