Itron recently attended the Utility Broadband Association's premier event, UBBA Summit & Plugfest, alongside industry leaders, innovators and utility professionals, all working together to advance broadband communication networks for utilities. The Summit highlighted cutting-edge technologies, industry best practices and collaborative opportunities aimed at accelerating the energy transition.  

UBBA’s mission is to educate and advocate for broadband in the utility sector, with a specific focus on private networking. A key highlight of this year’s event was the 2024 Plugfest, where vendors and utility partners came together to test and validate interoperable solutions in real-world scenarios. Use cases focused on:  

• Stage 1: AMI 2.0 - Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is evolving from just tracking revenue to becoming a multi-sensor platform. Teams explored and showcased how next-generation AMI (also known as AMI 2.0) applications improve grid monitoring and operational efficiency.  
• Stage 2: Device Routing - As utilities adopt private LTE networks, managing thousands of devices for distribution automation becomes essential. Teams demonstrated routing and segmentation techniques to ensure compliance, reliability, safety and security. 
• Stage 3: Edge Computing and Low Latency - Shifting decision-making to the grid edge enables faster, automated responses in the field. Teams highlighted how this approach improves efficiency, cuts costs, reduces delays and enhances safety. 

Leaders from Itron had the opportunity to co-present findings alongside Pacific Gas & Electric, Xcel Energy, Anterix, Ericsson, Nokia and Ubiik on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) 2.0. The collective team presented an overview of a blueprint for next-generation AMI on Private Cellular Field Area Networks, including:  

• AMI 2.0 Use Cases/ AMI 1.0 & AMI 2.0 Traffic Models 
• Simulation & Lab Test Results 
• Reflections on the results 

The summary findings of the testing showed that utilities see the most return on investment when implementing a hybrid network with both cellular and a mesh neighborhood area network with peer-to-peer capabilities. By leveraging a micro-mesh at the network edge, utilities can operate distributed intelligence applications and keep the bulk of the data out at the edge; only sending back necessary information to the head end. This preserves capacity on the cellular network for the most critical use cases. With Itron's Intelligent Connectivity suite, which includes both mesh and cellular communications, utilities can migrate from AMI 1.0 to AMI 2.0 and take full advantage of grid edge intelligence solutions.   

At the event, Itron was pleased to receive the Breakthrough Achievement Award, given to recipients for achieving significant milestones of breakthroughs in their testing projects. John Griebling, senior solutions architect at Itron is pictured below, accepting the award on the team’s behalf. 

As utilities continue to navigate challenges and opportunities in the digital age, events like the UBBA Summit & Plugfest highlight the value of industry collaboration in creating a sustainable, connected future. We’re already looking forward to next year.