Itron Inc. has formed a strategic partnership with Comverge, Inc., to provide the demand response and load control components to Itron's OpenWay Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) platform.

The agreement, which has been in place for several months, establishes Comverge as the principal provider of demand response technology, such as “smart” thermostats and load control switches, for use with Itron’s OpenWay AMI solution.

The OpenWay development redefines the standards for AMI and demand response within the industry by using Itron’s open architecture communications network to enable price responsive rate schedules, load shed verification, and messaging (such as price signals) to the residential, mass market segment of utility’s customer base. The devices will communicate via the ZigBee wireless in-home communications standard.

OpenWay by Itron is an entirely new, highly adaptable, open-architecture AMI solution being developed by Itron and its partners to meet a broader set of advanced metering, communication and control technology requirements that utilities will face in the years to come. OpenWay by Itron provides: open-standards architecture, full two-way communication to each meter, robust interval data collection, mass market demand response capability, a communication pathway into the home via the ZigBee, and extensive feature/functionality to support ”smart grid” requirements.