Itron Signs AMR Agreement with Southern California Edison; 50,000 Unit Pilot Program.

SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1996--Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI), a leading international provider of automatic meter reading (AMR) equipment and services to the utility industry, announced today that Southern California Edison has signed a letter of intent with Itron to develop a pilot program that will read 50,000 meters in the utility's service area using Itron's Fixed Network AMR technology. Southern California Edison, the nation's second largest electric utility, is one of seven Edison International (NYSE:EIX) companies.

The launch date and exact location of the pilot within Edison's service territory will be announced in January, 1997. The pilot will allow Edison to evaluate the potential use of AMR utility-wide, said Dick Rosenblum, Edison's vice president of the Distribution Business Unit.

Commenting on the Edison project, Itron president and CEO Johnny Humphreys said, "We are especially gratified that one of the nation's largest and most important electric utilities has selected Itron's most advanced meter reading technology."

Itron's Fixed Network AMR system will provide Edison with a wide variety of advanced meter reading capability, including daily scheduled consumption meter readings, real-time on-demand readings, time-of-use readings, outage detection and the ability to monitor inactive accounts for unauthorized usage. Metering and system integration in support of the AMR project will be provided by ABB Power T&D Company of Raleigh, North Carolina, a subsidiary of the ABB Group of Zurich, Switzerland.

Itron's products and services for meter reading are used by more than 1,300 utilities worldwide, including 20 of the 25 largest utilities in North America. ABB Power T&D Company is the largest supplier of power transmission and distribution products, systems and services in the U.S.

Headquartered in Spokane, Washington, Itron serves over 1,300 customers in more than 40 countries. With engineering, design, and manufacturing facilities in several U.S. locations and subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, and Australia, Itron is one of the leading suppliers of energy information, communications and management solutions to electric, gas and water utilities worldwide.

CONTACT: Itron, Inc., Spokane

Mima Scarpelli, 509/891-3565