Itron (ITRI) CEO Malcolm Unsworth spoke with Reuters yesterday about the future of the smart grid.  Here are some highlights..

– Doesn’t expect the US to deploy any more funds to advance the smart grid
– The smart grid portion of the nearly trillion dollar stimulus package gave a crucial boost to the industry, but it’s no longer needed

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Rollouts of Itron’s smart meters "have always been done because of solid business cases," Unsworth said, adding that "there is enough momentum today without the need for the federal government to put anything in place."

-  Says activity has never been as high and sees strong years in 2011/2012 due to EU demand (particularly in the UK, France, Spain and Italy).  Itron has 20-25% market share in Europe for smart meters.
– Indicated that company has been reorganized to increase profitability but it won’t happen overnight (ITRI missed on it’s last earnings report)

Technical analysis..

Shares of  ITRI have fluctuated in a fairly long base for several months and is once again retesting key support around the $50 level.  I like shares of ITRI down here, but think it’s too soon to pull the trigger on a position especially with the overall market under pressure.  I’d want to see if it can hang in around the $50 level for a few more weeks.