Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Financial Statement Preparation The consolidated financial statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are unaudited and reflect entries necessary for the fair presentation of the Consolidated Statements of Operations and the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, Consolidated Statements of Equity for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, June 30, 2020 and 2019, and March 31, 2020 and 2019, the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, and the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, of Itron, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All entries required for the fair presentation of the financial statements are of a normal recurring nature, except as disclosed. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or for any other period. Certain information and notes normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been partially or completely omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding interim results. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC in our Annual Report on Form 10-K on February 27, 2020 (2019 Annual Report). There have been no significant changes in financial statement preparation or significant accounting policies since December 31, 2019.
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents	Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents that are contractually restricted from operating use are classified as restricted cash and cash equivalents.
Accounts Receivable	Accounts Receivable, net Accounts receivable are recognized for invoices issued to customers in accordance with our contractual arrangements. Interest and late payment fees are minimal. Unbilled receivables are recognized when revenues are recognized upon product shipment or service delivery and invoicing occurs at a later date. We recognize an allowance for doubtful accounts representing our estimate of the expected losses in accounts receivable at the date of the balance sheet based on our historical experience of bad debts, our specific review of outstanding receivables, and our review of current and expected economic conditions. Accounts receivable are written-off against the allowance when we believe an account, or a portion thereof, is no longer collectible.
New Accounting Pronouncements	Recently Adopted Accounting Standards In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. Subsequent to 2016-13 the FASB also issued codification improvements and transition relief in ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, ASU 2019-11, ASU 2020-02, and ASU 2020-03, hereafter collectively referred to as Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 326. ASC 326 replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in previous GAAP with a methodology based on expected credit losses, which results in losses being recognized earlier. The estimate of expected credit losses uses a broader range of reasonable and supportable information. We adopted ASC 326 on January 1, 2020, and the impacts on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows were immaterial. In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which amended the disclosure requirements under ASC 820. This update clarifies and unifies the disclosure of Level 3 fair value instruments. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, and it did not materially impact our consolidated financial statements. In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans, which amends the disclosure requirements under ASC 715-20. This update clarifies annual disclosures for Defined Benefit Plans. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, and it did not materially impact our consolidated financial statements. Recent Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which modifies certain provisions of ASC 740, in an effort to reduce the complexity of accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 is effective for us beginning with our interim financial reports for the first quarter of 2021. We are currently evaluating the effects and do not believe this standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform. ASU 2020-04 applies to contracts that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be terminated because of reference rate reform. An entity may elect certain optional expedients for hedging relationships that exist as of December 31, 2022, and maintain those optional expedients through the end of the hedging relationship. ASU 2020-04 can be adopted as of March 12, 2020. We do not currently have any contracts that have been changed to a new reference rate, but we will continue to evaluate our contracts and the effects of this standard on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows prior to adoption.

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Financial Statement Preparation

The consolidated financial statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are unaudited and reflect entries necessary for the fair presentation of the Consolidated Statements of Operations and the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, Consolidated Statements of Equity for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, June 30, 2020 and 2019, and March 31, 2020 and 2019, the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, and the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, of Itron, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All entries required for the fair presentation of the financial statements are of a normal recurring nature, except as disclosed. The results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or for any other period.

Certain information and notes normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been partially or completely omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding interim results. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC in our Annual Report on Form 10-K on February 27, 2020 (2019 Annual Report). There have been no significant changes in financial statement preparation or significant accounting policies since December 31, 2019.

Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents that are contractually restricted from operating use are classified as restricted cash and cash equivalents.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts Receivable, net

Accounts receivable are recognized for invoices issued to customers in accordance with our contractual arrangements. Interest and late payment fees are minimal. Unbilled receivables are recognized when revenues are recognized upon product shipment or service delivery and invoicing occurs at a later date. We recognize an allowance for doubtful accounts representing our estimate of the expected losses in accounts receivable at the date of the balance sheet based on our historical experience of bad debts, our specific review of outstanding receivables, and our review of current and expected economic conditions. Accounts receivable are written-off against the allowance when we believe an account, or a portion thereof, is no longer collectible.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. Subsequent to 2016-13 the FASB also issued codification improvements and transition relief in ASU 2019-04, ASU 2019-05, ASU 2019-11, ASU 2020-02, and ASU 2020-03, hereafter collectively referred to as Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 326. ASC 326 replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in previous GAAP with a methodology based on expected credit losses, which results in losses being recognized earlier. The estimate of expected credit losses uses a broader range of reasonable and supportable information. We adopted ASC 326 on January 1, 2020, and the impacts on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows were immaterial.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement, which amended the disclosure requirements under ASC 820. This update clarifies and unifies the disclosure of Level 3 fair value instruments. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, and it did not materially impact our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General (Subtopic 715-20): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans, which amends the disclosure requirements under ASC 715-20. This update clarifies annual disclosures for Defined Benefit Plans. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, and it did not materially impact our consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which modifies certain provisions of ASC 740, in an effort to reduce the complexity of accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 is effective for us beginning with our interim financial reports for the first quarter of 2021. We are currently evaluating the effects and do not believe this standard will have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform. ASU 2020-04 applies to contracts that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be terminated because of reference rate reform. An entity may elect certain optional expedients for hedging relationships that exist as of December 31, 2022, and maintain those optional expedients through the end of the hedging relationship. ASU 2020-04 can be adopted as of March 12, 2020. We do not currently have any contracts that have been changed to a new reference rate, but we will continue to evaluate our contracts and the effects of this standard on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows prior to adoption.