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Itron (ITRI) to Add Emerson's Smart Thermostats to DR Programs

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Itron, Inc. (ITRI - Free Report) recently joined forces with Emerson to offer reliable thermostats as part of its Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), direct install demand response (DR) and distributed energy resource (DER) programs.

Emerson is a global technology and engineering leader creating solutions that drive innovation and make the world healthier, safer, smarter and more sustainable.

Benefits of the Alliance

Per “Use of energy explained: Energy use in homes" issued by U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than half of a home’s energy usage in 2015 accounted for just two end uses -- space heating and air conditioning. Thus, with thermostats dominating a household’s energy usage, providing Emerson’s Sensi smart thermostat and Sensi Touch smart thermostats as part of a utility’s energy management product menu gives consumers more control and visibility into their energy usage.

Per the latest alliance, Emerson’s Sensi thermostats will join Itron’s ecosystem of third-party devices for its BYOD and direct install DR programs. Also, Itron’s newly-developed IntelliSOURCE-powered DER Optimizer solution will be used in conjunction with Emerson’s Sensi thermostats for BYOD and direct installs programs. This will give consumers hold over their energy usage through the Sensi app or through the utility’s mobile app, thereby helping them to lower their energy footprint.

This will also enable utilities to better engage with customers, enhancing grid reliability and sustainability. The alliance will also provide a cost-efficient, customer-focused way of managing air conditioning or heating load throughout a service territory.

Itron is highly optimistic about this collaboration. Per the company, Sensi smart thermostats will prove to be a great addition to its DR programs, making it possible for consumers to create an ideal home environment.

Opportunities Bright in the Utility Sector for Itron

Headquartered in Liberty Lake, WA, Itron is one of the prominent suppliers of a wide array of standard, advanced and smart meters and meter communication systems, including networks and communication modules, sensors, data analytics and services and software devices globally.

Itron has been consistently working toward expanding its global presence, taking advantage of reliable and efficient solutions in the utility sector.

Recently, Itron and the City of Fuengirola, Spain, collaborated to transform the latter’s smart city vision into a reality. Per the collaboration, the City of Fuengirola, which houses more than 82,000 permanent residents, will deploy Itron’s smart city platform. This solution will include a city-wide mesh network developed for industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices and Itron’s device and data management platform, SLV.

Prior to that, Itron announced that its IntelliSOURCE-powered DER Optimizer solution is being implemented by Florida-based Duke Energy to operate a new managed Electronic Vehicles (or EV) charging program. Duke Energy will deploy the DER Optimizer solution in the first quarter of 2022 and use it for the next four years.

Itron has also inked a contract with Consolidated Utility District (CUD) to upgrade the latter’s existing water infrastructure to enable greater efficiency, reliability and value. This contract will help the Itron solution to boost the operational efficiency and customer service of more than 160,000 CUD customers across Rutherford County in central Tennessee.

Shares of ITRI have plunged 37.9% compared with the industry’s fall of 0.9% in the past year.

Zacks Investment Research
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Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Itron currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Badger Meter (BMI - Free Report) , NETGEAR (NTGR - Free Report) and Iridium Communications (IRDM - Free Report) . While Badger Meter sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), NETGEAR and Iridium carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Badger Meter has a projected earnings growth rate of 5.77% for 2022. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Badger Meter’s 2022 earnings has been revised upward by 19 cents in the past 60 days.

Badger Meter’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters and met estimates once, the average surprise being 14%. Shares of BMI have gained 7.3% in the past year.

NETGEAR has a projected earnings growth rate of 31.46% for 2023. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NETGEAR’s 2023 earnings has been revised downward by 7 cents in the past 90 days.

NETGEAR’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters and missed estimates once, the average surprise being 35.5%. Shares of NTGR have plunged 38.1% in the past year.

Iridium has a projected earnings growth rate of 271.43% for 2022. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Iridium’s 2022 earnings has been revised upward by a penny in the past 90 days.

Iridium’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters and met estimates twice, the average surprise being 39.4%. Shares of IRDM have gained 4.5% in the past year.

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