Itron Lands Big Contract

Itron Inc. has landed one of its largest contracts ever, a $100 million deal with the City of Philadelphia for reading water meters.

The project, approved by the city council Thursday, is also the largest contract covering water metering ever undertaken by a North American public utility.

Itron spokeswoman Mima Scarpelli said the bulk of the revenues - $65 million - will cover installation of 487,000 new meters equipped with company modules that read and transmit information on water use.

That work will take two years, she said.

Meters will be provided by Badger Meter Inc. of Milwaukee, Wis.

For the next 18 years, Itron will operate the system, which collects the transmitted information using vans driven through city neighborhoods.

Scarpelli said Itron will receive $35 million for that work.

The arrangement is a first for Itron, she said. Prior contracts almost exclusively have been sales.

To manage the project, Scarpelli said Itron will open an office in Philadelphia with a staff of four to six employees.

Installation work and most of the meter reading will be handled by subcontractors or employees of the Philadelphia Water Department, she said.

Itron is already installing a mobile system for reading the city’s gas meters. About 60 percent of the Philadelphia Gas Works system - 323,000 modules - is in place. That sale was made in 1994.

Scarpelli said Itron is discussing a joint reading arrangement with Gas Works, but no agreement has been reached.

The value of the new contracts with Philadelphia is exceeded by only one or two others, she said. One covers electric meters in the Denver area and the other involves electric meters in the Pittsburgh area.

Scarpelli said Itron, based in the Spokane Valley, has been anticipating Thursday’s agreement for some time, and no additional hiring is expected as a result of the contracts.

, DataTimes