Income Taxes Schedule of Income Tax Rate Reconciliation (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Income (loss) before income taxes
Domestic	$ 19,016	$ 167,299	$ 125,010
Foreign	(167,270)	(31,080)	(626,776)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(148,254)	136,219	(501,766)
Expected federal income tax provision (benefit)	(51,889)	47,677	(175,618)
Goodwill impairment	49,730	(1,905)	207,054
Change in valuation allowance	17,999	12,855	13,807
Luxembourg net operating loss	(5,443)	(12,767)	(5,289)
Stock-based compensation	1,598	1,787	951
Foreign earnings	(10,212)	(23,769)	(19,222)
Tax credits	(10,352)	(2,174)	(6,877)
Uncertain tax positions, including interest and penalties	1,360	(2,740)	(3,996)
Change in tax rates	1,442	174	(1,522)
State income tax provision (benefit), net of federal effect	(2,291)	1,242	(768)
U.S. tax provision on foreign earnings	(245)	2,370	0
Domestic production activities deduction	(146)	(2,612)	(4,313)
Local foreign taxes	3,212	3,635	3,525
Other, net	1,573	2,222	(3,302)
Total provision (benefit) for income taxes	$ (3,664)	$ 25,995	$ 4,430

Name:	itri_IncomeLossBeforeIncomeTaxesAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	itri_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

The portion of the difference between total income tax expense or benefit as reported in the Income Statement for the period and the expected income tax expense or benefit computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations attributable to the application of appropriate local tax rates in foreign jurisdictions.