Itron Utility Week (IUW) kicked off in high-gear yesterday, and the General Session presenters set the pace with a compelling kickoff!

We had a strong lineup of speakers to get the week started, including: Itron CEO Philip Mezey; Luis Frisby, who oversees the Central Arizona Division of Southwestern Gas Corporation, and Marina Donovan, Itron vice president of global marketing and public affairs.

Transformation was a common thread throughout these initial presentations. However, IUW 2018 has offered new, compelling and – most importantly – actionable insights for utilities and municipalities to work from. The speakers zeroed-in on the areas where utilities and municipalities need to focus in order to maximize the impact of their efforts, as we look toward 2019 and beyond.

Itron CEO Philip Mezey took the stage where he covered what it takes to spark meaningful transformation in the utility industry. He spent time defining what “transformation” really means for the utility industry, reminding attendees that “we can’t get to transformation if we can’t fulfill our duty of delivering clean, reliable energy and water.”

He intentionally noted the greater challenges associated with achieving this transformation and highlighted that this transformational, global shift will have a wide-reaching impact; not only on utilities and municipalities, but on consumers of energy and water as well.

In short: truly achieving “transformation” is no walk in the park. But you all knew that, right?

And in the same breath he articulated our entire team’s sense of accountability in sharing that Itron is “moving beyond metering to enable smart cities, outcome-based solutions and the future of IIoT.”

Our CEO also set the tone for this week by sending us off with a bold message that underscored Itron’s confidence in the entire industry and noted that despite the challenges associated with antiquated infrastructure and widespread scarcity that plague the industry - we have no doubt in our shared ability to help our customers overcome these challenges, especially given the fast-paced innovation the industry has achieved; even in this past year alone. As he noted, “together, we have the opportunity to accelerate innovation.”

And with that, we headed into #IUW18!

Luis Frisby, the VP who oversees the Central Arizona Division of Southwestern Gas Corporation, took the stage next. He drew a clear line of sight between what Mezey articulated by sharing real-world examples of how Itron has worked with Southwestern Gas Corporation to optimize efficiencies with smart metering technology and real-time data insights, a couple of key insights that stood out include:

• Since 1996, Itron has helped us to reduce 736 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually
• More than 1.3 million miles of unnecessary driving (i.e., truck rolls) have been saved as a result of this collaboration thanks to the 160 vehicles taken off the road, enabling greater efficiency and enhancing sustainability

Marina Donovan, our vice president of global marketing and public affairs, took the stage after Frisby. She validated the key takeaways from the preceding speakers by highlighting key stats from our latest research initiative, the Itron Resourcefulness Report, which was also announced yesterday.

The report analyzed opinions of more than 1,000 utility executives plus more than 1,000 consumers and – while there were many intriguing findings in the robust analysis – Donovan focused on the core themes which centered around assessing the current risks, taking a shared approach to resourcefulness and the keys to a more resourceful future for our global community.

She also emphasized that the path to optimizing efficiency is one that can’t be achieved in a silo. As noted in our latest report, the next generation of resourcefulness will require the establishment of rock-solid alliances between all parties, from utility companies, to municipalities, device manufacturers, carriers and consumers alike.

The general session wrapped up with the Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Resourcefulness Awards where we announced the winners in energy and water and recognized their contributions to reducing the waste of energy or water resources. Congratulations to Pepco Holdings and City of Bismarck!