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Thomas Deitrich

Chief Executive Officer, President & Director, Itron

Search every verified Thomas Deitrich interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Thomas Deitrich, CEO of Itron, discussed the company's role in addressing strain on aging utility infrastructure during an August 2026 interview with The Motley Fool. He noted that Itron, which has served utilities since 1977 and counts about 8,000 customers globally, holds a 60 to 70 percent market share in North American electricity and water metering. Deitrich emphasized that total backlog is a more meaningful indicator of future revenue than quarterly book-to-bill ratios, particularly as the business shifts toward higher-margin software and services. Deitrich also commented on challenges facing the utility sector, including changing energy pricing models as data centers and other large consumers generate their own power. He stated that the primary constraint on Itron's growth is the speed of technology adoption, describing utilities as risk-averse by design due to their mandate for reliability. He contrasted consumer expectations for real-time service from digital platforms with the current experience of dealing with utilities.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“Above all of that though, the point that I hope came through in the keynote is the thing that we need to do as an industry and not violate is trust. We've got to make sure that the use of AI is done in a way where everything we do is traceable and explainable, and when we do that we can build trust.”

“Grid transformation as a topic is not a slogan that we can adopt anymore; it's something that we have to take on and something that we have to do. The foundation of it is data, so how can we put together and use all of the data that's in our hands today to enable that transformation of the grid.”

“Affordability is a real concern and something we all have to grapple with. And we're all starting from a different place. We have different systems, different regulatory environments, different investment paths.”

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