Itron and Toumetis Team Up with Southern California Utility to Reduce Wildfire Risk and Improve Reliability by Preventing Outages and Shortening Restoration Time
Collaboration Advances Wildfire Mitigation with Predictive Analytics, Faster Fault Location and Acce
LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. and BOISE, Idaho, Feb. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Itron and Toumetis today announced a project in Southern California to strengthen wildfire mitigation and improve electric reliability by deploying advanced, real-time analytics that help reduce SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) and SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) through two complementary levers: preventing outages before they occur and shortening outage duration when they do occur. The project is being performed in collaboration with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) under the .
The project combines Itron’s high-resolution data from its distributed intelligence-enabled endpoints with Toumetis’ Cascadence™ predictive analytics and machine learning platform—currently deployed across more than 800 electric distribution circuits in Southern California—to integrate multiple data sources into a single operational view. The system brings together detailed data from smart meters, substation power quality measurements, relay signals and other grid sensors.
By unifying these signals and applying a physics-based location algorithm coupled with expert knowledge and informed AI/ML models, the joint effort is designed to detect emerging risk conditions earlier, prioritize the highest-impact events and accelerate field response—particularly in high fire threat areas.
A core objective of the initiative is to reduce SAIFI and SAIDI by (1) preventing outages through early identification of precursor conditions and targeted intervention, and (2) reducing outage minutes by accelerating fault location, triage and restoration.
“Reducing SAIDI requires both prevention and faster restoration. Cascadence is built to unify disparate grid data, detect subtle precursors to failure and deliver actionable intelligence in minutes. This enables targeted field action to help prevent customer-impacting outages and provides precise location and context to shorten restoration time when outages occur.”
— Mark Willnerd, Chief Executive Officer, Toumetis Inc.
“We have a strategic relationship with Toumetis to incorporate Cascadence with Itron’s waveform detection and classification agents on Gen5 Riva meters to provide grid edge analytics and operational awareness—helping utilities detect and locate precursor conditions, prioritize detection risk and restore power faster.”
—Don Reeves, Senior Vice President, Outcomes, Itron
Program Focus Areas
- Prevent outages (reduce customer interruptions): Identify early warning signs—such as abnormal voltage behavior, repeating waveform patterns or emerging equipment stress—so crews can address issues before they become sustained customer outages.
- Shorten outage duration (reduce restoration minutes): Improve fault location precision and event triage to reduce patrol time and accelerate dispatch decisions and restoration.
- Wildfire mitigation in high-risk areas: Prioritize potential ignition-related electrical conditions for rapid investigation and response to support safer operations in high-fire-threat districts.
- Integrated operational view and reporting: Consolidate monitoring, alerting, workflows and post-event reporting to support continuous improvement and measurable outcomes.
Initial work includes data integration and measuring results over time, including prevented events, time-to-locate and time-to-restore metrics. Itron and Toumetis expect to use the results to guide a potential expansion into additional circuits and operating scenarios.
About Itron
Itron is transforming how the world manages energy, water and city services. Our trusted intelligent infrastructure solutions help utilities and cities improve efficiency, build resilience and deliver safe, reliable and affordable service. With edge intelligence, we connect people, data insights and devices so communities can better manage the essential resources they rely on to live and thrive. Join us as we create a more resourceful world:
Itron® and the Itron Logo are registered trademarks of Itron, Inc in the United States and other countries and regions.. All third-party trademarks are property of their respective owners and any usage herein does not suggest or imply any relationship between Itron and the third party unless expressly stated.
About Toumetis
Toumetis delivers SME powered AI/ML and physics-informed analytics that help electric utilities predict, prevent, detect, and locate grid events. Its Cascadence platform unifies disparate grid-edge and enterprise data sources to accelerate operational decision-making, improve reliability, and support wildfire mitigation. Cascadence is deployed across more than 800 SDG&E electric distribution circuits.
Media Contacts
Itron: Alison Mallahan, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications — — 509.891.3802
Toumetis: Mark Willnerd, CEO & President — — 208-841-1388
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements, including expectations regarding performance and operational outcomes. Actual results may differ based on implementation, operating conditions, and other factors.
