Smart Grid News is the granddaddy of web sites devoted to all things smart grid. As a result, our site houses a vast library of rich and relevant resources you might not discover at first glance. So take a few minutes for a quick tour. It will help you find what you're looking for faster – and uncover treasures you didn't know existed.
While energy storage at the distribution substation level isn't big news (or big business) in the smart grid investment environment now, IMS Research predicts revenues will show impressive growth in the sector over the next several years – to the tune of an annual average rate of 50%. Read the story to find out why.
Texas and Oklahoma are pretty low in the rankings of energy efficient states. But a group of companies, including electric service providers cooperatives, retailers, manufacturers have joined forces to push for advanced building systems and energy-efficient products and services in the region. There's more on the new coalition inside.
In an effort to develop smart grid solutions for the Chevrolet Volt, OnStar is inviting utilities, energy companies and others to take advantage of a set of its application programming interfaces to develop new apps for Volt owners. Click inside to learn what OnStar is looking for from developers.
The California Public Utilities Commission today gave a unanimous thumbs up to a Pacific Gas & Electric Company proposal to allow customers to opt out of its smart meter program - if they're willing to pay a fee for that choice. But after a noisy and emotional meeting it was clear that this story is far from over: smart meter opponents are dead set against paying the fees.
In this week's blog about his stint on a privacy panel put on by the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative, security ace Andy Bochman ponders why the SGCC needs to exist - and then answers his own question: Without it, there would be no one out there to give consumers a reasoned and sensible alternative to the alarmist ranting they're frequently exposed to in the mainstream media. (And he provides a good example of what he's talking about.)
DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is building a series of interconnected laboratories where researchers will be able to test new technologies on simulated and real power systems before plugging them into the electric grid. Get more on the story inside.
Nearly 7,000 votes later and we have the results of our third annual Smart Grid Companies to Watch search. Did Smart Grid News readers get it right? Click to see the top 12 companies they believe will be doing big things in 2012.
An announcement today related to Pennsylvanian demand response has implications far beyond that state. The use of incentives and targeting midsize commercial are just two of the emerging trends we think you'll be interested in.
Siemens snaps up RuggedCom, a maker of hardened routers for substations. ABB snags Thomas & Betts, a maker of old-school low voltage gear. Valuations on these two recent deals may signal a new strategic phase of particular interest to smaller suppliers. Click for more on that, plus concerns about the Siemens deal from long-time industry analyst Chuck Newton.
SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst shares a glimpse of a new state-of-the-art transmission control center, which he sees as a view into the future – and the future of distribution operations as well. Click inside to find out why.
Revenues from transmission and distribution infrastructure investments are expected to more than double over the next several years – from $7.27 billion in 2010 to $15.53 billion in 2020, according to a new analysis from Global Data. The business intelligence company says the increase in demand from emerging economies is primarily responsible for the growth.
In an interview focused on the state of the VC industry as it relates to energy, Tracy Lefteroff, Global Managing Partner of PwC's venture capital practice, anticipates a flat 2012 in the U.S. Instead, he suggests looking north if you want to see where the dollars are flowing.
The big event in San Antonio may be over, but we've got wrap-ups you won't want to miss. Click for notes and whispers from our many one-on-ones with industry execs, for a new smart grid implementation survey released by Microsoft and OSIsoft, plus videos from the show floor (including a demo of EPRI's new insulator robot named Ike).
Marketing and advertising companies have been taking advantage of social media for years, and now more and more electric utilities are catching on - using them for their own marketing, communications and business strategies, according to a new white paper from Pike Research. Get more on the story inside.
If you missed or would like to review our recent webinar with Qualcomm on comparing cellular with other smart grid communications technologies, click for links to the video replays and the presentation deck.
What's the word from smart grid companies hunkered down in San Antonio this week? Click for a quick look at our latest batch of announcements from DistribuTECH, including a partnership between BMW and Tendril, a new integrated solution from S&C and Alstom Grid and project awards for AEP Ohio and other utilities.
Which smart grid companies have the potential to do big things in 2012? That's what the Smart Grid News 12 in 2012 is all about - and now it's time to narrow the list of 26 reader-nominated contenders to 12. Click to vote for the company you think most deserves to be on our collective radar as 2012 progresses.
You don't have to be at DistribuTECH to stay on top of the news; the PR machine has been spewing out announcements for days now. We've sifted through dozens of releases and pulled out the announcements we didn't think you'd want to miss. Click for details on Itron's new analytic apps to help utilities take advantage of smart grid data, for Opower's new Marketplace service at Home Depot, for the latest from Lockheed Martin, IBM, Honeywell and many others.
When security technologists expose the vulnerabilities of smart grid vendors' products, should they make their findings public? How far should they go in their efforts to nudge vendors to improve their offerings? Read the story to understand why security expert Andy Bochman has mixed feelings about how the results of a recent study were handled.
A report from the U.S. Commerce Department says there is a pressing need to upgrade the U.S. infrastructure, and points to the smart grid as a critical example. SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst asks if this warning and others that preceded it could lead to a national energy policy.
Utilities facing the challenges of an aging/retiring workforce and an aging infrastructure can find themselves dealing with problematic feeders that require too much time and attention. With launch of its Intelligent Distribution Sensor product line, CURRENT is offering a solution - and Pepco is taking them up on it with a rollout planned for its Washington, D.C. service area.
Smart cities are about sharing data, and UISOL is working to make it easy for utilities to share data back and forth with a city's emergency responders. It's a perfect illustration of the evolution to smart cities and the role of the smart grid as a necessary foundation for smart cities. Click for a look at how the pieces fit together.
If Silver Spring Networks' just-announced fourth generation networking technology does everything the company says it can, they've created what utilities have always wanted but didn't know to ask for - any transport. With Gen4, Silver Spring has simultaneously addressed the issues with current RF mesh by increasing its speed and capacity and has also integrated cellular. Click for more on this important development that leapfrogs Silver Spring to the head of the innovation pack.
Energate is working with the province of Ontario to deploy its residential demand response solutions as part of a province-wide program intended to reduce demand during peak load periods – and participating consumers also are expected to benefit from energy-saving tools and technology.
We're getting mixed signals about the vitality of the smart grid market. On the one hand, the recent DistribuTECH conference was one of the most successful ever. On the other, a well-known Wall Street analyst recently told his clients that the smart metering sector is "facing several headwinds," including weak regulatory support in the U.S. and delays in European adoption. Taking the pulse of the smart grid industry is this week's Tuesday Topic.
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