Liberty Lake, Washington-based Itron, the developer of smart meters, said today that it is part of an effort working with energy provider Avista on a smart grid demonstration project in Pullman. Itron said Avista's other partners include Wasington State University, Hewlett-Packard, and Spirae. The project is worth $38M, and is part of the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project being led by Battelle. Itron's smart meters and data management software is being used as part of the deployment.