American energy and water resource management technology company Itron, Inc. recently announced its launch of the eHZ-B residential smart meter in Germany. This meter will service utilities and cities and seeks to aid in Germany’s current energy transition to a more environmentally friendly and affordable energy supply. Their ultimate goal is to enable utilities and cities to safely make the switch. 

A foreign market means meeting a new set of regulations. Itron’s smart meter rollouts with the eHZ-B are able to effectively assimilate with a multi-vendor German market and effortlessly work with Smart Meter Gateways (SMGw – the interface between consumers and their energy providers) through Transport Layer Security (TLS – cryptographic protocols designed to give communications security through computer networks). The eHZ-B protects this process by protecting digital transmission that has embedded next-gen encryption support. 

The technology is projected to become a key influence in the future of affordable energy supply and push the development of a smart grid system in Germany. 

The new meter will “build a solid foundation for a connected distribution network” and “provide cities and utilities the trusted partnership they need to meet their modernization and digitalization initiatives” says Senior Vice President of Device Solutions Justin Patrick. 

Itron has partnered with Hausheld AG in their efforts. “By partnering with Itron and implementing their smart meters in our offering, we’re confident that we have the right partner and products to better serve communities and cities in the region.”

The eHZ-B meter’s impact in Germany could potentially impact the way the rest of the world transitions into cleaner energy and how we utilize industrial meters, water meters, and other utility resource management.