Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies Narrative (Details) (Itron Sistemas e Technologia Ltda. Employment Cases [Member])	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2008 Employees of Previous Service Provider Hired Upon Agreement to Provide Installation and Maintenance Services to a Customer [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employees Terminated Upon the Termination of Installation and Maintenance Services Contract with Customer [Member]
Loss Contingency, Number of Plaintiffs	300
Entity Number of Employees		800	870