Itron, Inc. released its 2022 Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Report, which details Itron’s commitment to preserving energy and water, enabling utilities and cities to manage these resources more efficiently and with less waste, and unveils the company’s progress toward advancing its sustainability goals.
“Building and managing sustainable energy and water infrastructure intelligently is essential to our efforts to combat climate disruption and to protecting the world’s most precious resources,” said Tom Deitrich, president and CEO of Itron. “Our partnerships with utilities and municipalities around the globe are essential for effective resource management, consumer access and reliability. In 2022 alone, we estimate our solutions assisted customers in avoiding at least 4.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions—a proof point to how we create a more resourceful world to protect tomorrow’s water and power, today.”
Centered around four pillars, Itron’s ESG strategic priorities focus on meeting the company’s objectives and encouraging utilities and cities to follow similar commitments, they note, adding that these guidelines align directly with the United Nations Global Compact, one of the largest global business sustainability initiatives, which Itron joined in May 2022. Specifically, the 2022 ESG report highlights advances related to:
Operating with integrity
Transparent business practices, along with ethical conduct, create a strong foundation on which Itron’s operations are based, they say. Whether through the Code of Conduct for employees and suppliers, a risk management program or corporate governance, Itron conducts its business with the utmost integrity to build trust in the industry. Climate disruption—a significant risk—is actively managed from both a physical and transitional perspective.
Providing sustainable solutions
Faced with multiple challenges of an aging infrastructure, extreme weather events and greater urbanization, utilities and smart cities are using Itron’s distributed intelligence and analytics solutions to best leverage existing infrastructure to provide reliable services, they claim. Distributed energy-management solutions offer the advanced ability to monitor demand and communicate with customers to proactively reduce load during peak times, decreasing chances of brown and blackouts. In 2022, Itron estimated at least 4.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided through reducing truck rolls, consumer energy education and demand response programs. These estimates now include gas and water insights alongside energy.
Improving environmental impact
While Itron solutions assist utilities and cities in building a more resourceful environment, the company is also improving the environmental impact of its facilities, offices and supply chain. In 2022, 88% of Itron manufacturing facilities achieved the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001—Environmental Management Systems certification, and Itron continued to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its operating footprint.
Supporting people and communities
Itron engages directly with employees through ongoing listening initiatives. As a result, findings from surveys and focus groups led to an increase in learning and development opportunities, and 90% of employees state that they see a clear connection between their work and Itron’s purpose of creating a more resourceful world. Additionally, Itron’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and positive community impact includes an employee giving program, Itron Gives, that supported more than 375 organizations, both financially and with more than 1,000 employee volunteer hours in 2022, they say. Finally, Itron notes how they collaborate with a number of educational partners and thought leaders, including Discovery Education, Power Over Energy and Smart Energy Education, to improve energy-water literacy and inspire the next generation of energy innovation.
