I’m thrilled to share that I’ve been elected to the Green Button Alliance’s (GBA) Board of Directors for a two-year term (2024-2025). The GBA is a non-profit and U.S.-based organization that fosters development, compliance and widespread adoption of the Green Button energy and water data-access and -sharing protocol, and Itron announced its Participating Membership in the GBA in Nov. 2023. Keep reading to understand the significance for Itron and our customers as the energy transition forges ahead. 

I started my career at Itron 12 years ago - fresh out of grad school - as an Evaluation, Measurement and Verification (EM&V) consultant for utility energy efficiency, demand response and supply side incentive programs. As a data analyst, I spent most of my time trying to access data and then cleaning those data. Sometimes a single annual program evaluation would take multiple years, largely due to data access and data quality issues. I quickly realized that the smart grid wasn’t quite as smart as I had thought and that a distributed energy future would never be possible without improved access to quality data. I have been promoting improved data access as a key priority for a clean energy future ever since. 

My position on the GBA’s board will help Itron, and the industry as a whole, ensure that the data and access mechanisms from the next generation of meters and grid edge sensors are properly aligned with the Green Button Standard. On-board Linux computing and Wi-Fi connectivity enable these meters to create new data streams such as load disaggregation profile data (including PV, EV and battery storage data), real-time 1-second interval streaming data, and transformer connectivity modelling and loading data, most of which will require easy, secure, customer authorized data access mechanisms to create maximum value. As a long-time supporter of open industry standards, interoperability and putting security first, Itron is excited for the opportunity to re-engage with the GBA. We’ve seen widespread adoption of Itron’s meters with edge computing capability and want to support the development and adoption of standards that both streamline and provide governance for using these new data streams. 

I look forward to collaborating with the GBA’s board to broaden adoption of standards-based Green Button data technologies that enable energy and water utilities around the world to offer secure, customer authorized data-access and data-sharing platforms and new digital customer services that leverage standardized Green Button utility customer data. This will become increasingly critical as the adoption of distributed energy resources continues to rise, and consumer, utility and third-party requirements for real-time insight into energy usage continues to grow. My position on the board will enable valuable collaboration with like-minded GBA stakeholders to stay at the forefront of innovation and continue to support grid-balancing efforts as the energy and water sectors evolve.  

Additionally, Itron’s innovative DataHub platform provides a united, user-friendly platform for utilities and third parties to facilitate the sharing of not just metering and billing information, but also a wide variety of grid edge data. Aligning these solutions with the Green Button standard is critical to ensure all parties have secure access to data needed for a distributed energy future, which will be a priority during my time on the board. 

Read the Green Button Alliance’s full announcement here and stay tuned for more updates as Itron and GBA work to empower utilities around the globe with digital, energy data-enabled services.