ComEd and Itron to Accelerate Development of Smart Cities in Illinois Through Smart Streetlight Program

CHICAGO and LIBERTY LAKE, WA – Jan. 29, 2019 – Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), which is innovating the way utilities and cities manage energy and water, and ComEd, which delivers energy to more than 4 million customers in Chicago and northern Illinois, today announced an initiative to modernize municipal lighting and drive smart city development in northern Illinois.

Itron will connect and manage up to 140,000 municipal smart streetlights across ComEd’s service territory, leveraging Itron’s multi-application IPv6 networking platform that ComEd is using for a variety of smart grid applications.

“By deploying an intelligent streetlight network across our service territory, we are helping reduce energy use for streetlights, saving money for our customers and setting the stage for smart city applications and services,” said Michelle Blaise, senior vice president, Technical Services, ComEd. “Itron’s proven expertise and solutions are helping us drive innovation and connect our customers and communities.”

The smart streetlights will be managed using Itron’s Streetlight.Vision Central Management System through a Software-as-a-Service model. This announcement supports the Illinois Commerce Commission’s objective  to establish "smart" as the new standard for all streetlights that ComEd owns in northern Illinois. ComEd will take advantage of the solution to reduce the cost of managing and maintaining the lights and to enhance the quality of service, reliability for community members through remote brightening and dimming features.

“The state of Illinois is emerging as a model for how IoT and smart city deployments should be done, thanks in part to initiatives ComEd is driving,” said Sharelynn Moore, senior vice president of networked solutions at Itron. “We are honored to be able to take part in programs that establish the foundation for achieving truly connected smart cities, and we look forward to our continued efforts with ComEd to help set the standard for smart utilities as we expand our reach into the broader industrial IoT segment.”

This program represents another milestone in ComEd’s efforts to transform the electric system serving 70 percent of Illinois. Since 2013, Silver Spring Networks, which was acquired by Itron, has collaborated with ComEd to deploy smart grid investments authorized by the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, or Smart Grid Law, enacted in 2011, including the communications system that supports the network of more than 4 million smart meters that have been installed in the ComEd region. ComEd also has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to create a new model for how utilities and municipalities can work together to create greener, more resilient and sustainable communities, including the use of smart LED streetlights.