Itron and PG&E expand grid sensing pilot to cut wildfire risk

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), are expanding a grid monitoring pilot aimed at reducing wildfire ignition risk in California, according to a joint statement from the companies.

The companies are deploying thousands of Itron Grid Edge Intelligence sensing devices to high fire-risk areas within PG&E's service territory. Initial installations are underway in the Santa Cruz area, with approximately 3,000 devices planned for the first phase. The total deployment is expected to reach approximately 10,000 devices through 2027, with PG&E targeting hundreds of thousands of devices by 2030.

The technology uses waveform capture, peer-to-peer endpoint communications, and edge analytics to detect and classify fault conditions across medium-voltage circuits and low-voltage segments. The system is designed to identify potential faults before an outage occurs, including downed live conductors that could ignite vegetation.

"Continually 'listening' to the data signals originating from our grid enables us to proactively detect, locate and understand problems earlier so we can act before they lead to outages or potential ignitions," said Craig Kurtz, senior director of Continuous Monitoring at PG&E.

Don Reeves, senior vice president of Outcomes at Itron, said the project addresses risks before they become outages or wildfire threats, adding that the technology can help improve SAIFI and SAIDI performance metrics.

The collaboration is partially funded through PG&E's electric research and development budget under California's Electric Program Investment Charge, a public purpose program that enables investor-owned utilities to demonstrate new technologies.

You May Also Be Interested In

• AEVEX says Navy GARC orders were not halted, contract now at $350M
• UBS Reiterates Buy Rating on Galderma Group AG (GALD:SW)
• Canaccord Downgrades NextDC (NXT:AU) to Spec. Buy