Con Edison contracts Zenergy for smart grid device

Con Edison contracts Zenergy for smart grid device

Associated Press, 04.20.09, 02:57 PM EDT

Zenergy Power Inc. on Monday said it has been hired by Consolidated Edison Inc. to build and test a "Smart Grid" device for improving the stability of New York City's electrical system.

Con Edison ( ED - news - people ), a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, authorized Zenergy Power to design, build and test a single-phase Fault Current Limiter (FCL), which instantly detects and absorbs spikes in power that, left unmanaged, could damage electrical equipment or trigger power outages.

The device connects to the grid it protects, allowing normal current to pass through freely but, when it senses a fault current, instantly counters the electrical flow.

"This reaction, created in part by the superconductor in the device, chokes off a potentially damaging electrical spike," Zenergy explained in a statement. "Once the fault current subsides, the FCL again allows standard levels of current to flow, protecting the electrical system automatically without human intervention."

Pat Duggan, a Con Edison project manager and specialist in fault current limiters said this development is crucial as the load grows, with electricity becoming a preferred source for many products such as plug-in hybrids.

Under a mandate to lead modernization of the electric grid, the Department of Energy partially funded Zenergy's development of an FCL, the company said.

Zenergy said it expects to deliver the prototype by the end of August. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Smart Grid Miami: FPL, GE, Cisco, Silver Spring Rolling Out 1M Smart Meters

Smart Grid Miami: FPL, GE, Cisco, Silver Spring Rolling Out 1M Smart Meters

Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:56am
EDTKatie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech

The smart grid is being touted as the Swiss army knife of cleantech — adding energy efficiency to the power grid, saving consumers money on energy bills, and creating jobs. That’s the way Florida utility FPL Group sees it, and today FPL, Cisco, GE, Silver Spring Networks and the city of Miami are announcing a large smart meter rollout in the Miami area that they hope will be partly funded with investment from the stimulus package. There’s a big press conference with the details at 10 a.m. (PST), but the Today Show has some of the details already in a couple different video clips.

GE will provide 1 million smart meters, and FPL Group CEO Lewis Hay tells the Today Show that if the “broad based trial” is successful for that initial group, it will be rolled out to the rest of FPL’s 4.5 million customers. The initial rollout, dubbed Energy Smart Miami, will cost $200 million, and extending the smart meter solution beyond Miami will cost another $500 million.

According to the Today Show, the companies hope that half of the investment will be provided by the stimulus package (the Today Show phrased it as half will be provided by the stimulus, but I think it’s not official yet) and half by FPL Group. According to Silver Spring Networks, a startup that will provide the network connectivity, the companies are working to “ensure that the initiative meets President Obama’s criteria as a “shovel-ready” project to qualify for matching funds from . . . the federal stimulus package. Contingent on receiving this federal support, Energy Smart Miami could begin later this year and be completed by the end of 2011.”

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Just last week Vice President Joe Biden outlined a draft plan for how the smart grid funds from the stimulus package would be spent. Those plans went into a 20-day comment period last week before being finalized, and they include $3.4 billion in grants for technology development and another $615 million for demo projects of smart grid storage, monitoring and technology.

The Today Show shows clips of consumers using smart meters to control appliances and managing their energy consumption through an online web site, and it says the average resident in the trial saved 5 percent on their average monthly energy bill. GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt said that he thinks energy management will follow the way of consumers managing their finances and banking online: it will take time but will end up being a trusted, efficient consumer tool.

According to Silver Spring there will be initial trials in 1,000 homes in Miami that will use more intensive energy management devices including:

* “in-home energy displays or “eco-panels” to help manage electrical loads and lower power use during peak periods,”
* “smart appliances that can communicate with smart meters to reschedule high-energy functions or switch to a lower-consumption mode during peak demand periods”
* “Programmable and smart-meter-controllable thermostats”
* “Demand management and demand response software that will manage consumer appliances, lighting and other devices using smart meters.”

When we get more details on what companies are providing the tech for some of these more intensive consumer energy management services, we’ll let you know.

Why Miami? The mayor of Miami, Manny Diaz, told the Today Show that Miami is “on the front lines” of global climate, and is one of the most largest urban areas affected by rising sea levels and stronger hurricanes. And, importantly in this down economy, the companies say that the smart meter rollout could provide 1,000 new jobs.

Obama Admin Unveils $4 Bln In Smart-Grid Power Tech Funding !!!!

Obama Admin Unveils $4 Bln In Smart-Grid Power Tech Funding

By Ian Talley

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
* APRIL 17, 2009, 7:37 A.M. ET



WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Obama Administration Thursday unveiled a new solicitation for around $4 billion in stimulus funding for new power-transmission technology.

The Administration wants to spur development of a new artificially intelligent "smart" grid that could drastically increase the efficiency of the nation's electricity infrastructure.

The Department of Energy announced plans to distribute $3.4 billion in smart-grid technology grants and $615 million for smart-grid demonstration projects.

"We need an upgraded electrical grid to take full advantage of the vast renewable resources in this country - to take the wind from the Midwest and the sun from the Southwest and power areas across the country," said Vice President Joe Biden, making the announcement at an ABB Ltd. (ABB) transformer plant in Missouri.

By better managing electricity use and supply - particularly as the country's power infrastructure becomes more complicated as renewable energy and local generation comes online - a smart grid would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt-hour of electrons consumed.

Under the $3.375 billion Smart Grid Investment Grant Program, the DOE will provide grants ranging from $500,000 to $20 million for smart-grid technology deployments, and $100,000 to $5 million for grid-monitoring devices.

Renewable and transmission companies are eagerly awaiting a new funding opportunity under the stimulus bill signed into law earlier this year, especially as investments had fizzled in the current economic crisis. The federal government approved around $60 billion in loan guarantee authority and more than $30 billion in energy grants under the stimulus bill signed into law earlier this year.

Firms such as ABB, Beacon Power Corp (BCON), Siemens AG (SI), Ambient Corp. (ABTG), and National Grid Plc (NGG) stand to gain from federal investments in the power transmission system.

Power analysts have said it would likely take several hundred billion dollars to completely modernize the power grid.

Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation Join Forces to Offer Utilities Smart Grid Communications Solution

Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation Join Forces to Offer Utilities Smart Grid Communications Solution
March 4, 2009

Smart Grid Projects to Use the Networks to Read Residential and Commercial Meters and Transmit Data

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BOSTON – Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation (OTCBB: ABTG) today announced a joint marketing agreement intended to facilitate the deployment of a host of smart grid projects around the country. The projects will allow utilities to transmit data from both residential and commercial meters over the nation’s most reliable network to the utility companies’ in-house systems.

Significant to the utility industry’s move to the more efficient open standards-based technologies necessary for smart grid applications is access to a robust communications platform. According to Mark Bartolomeo, vice president enterprise data sales for Verizon Wireless, the company’s Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) 3G network provides a secure, high-speed path for carrying data today and as the demand increases in the future.

“We’ve seen significant interest and growth in the utility sector for smart technologies,” Bartolomeo added. “This joint marketing agreement helps us provide utility customers with a solution designed to aid them in planning for long-term growth and profitability. This comprehensive platform holds great promise for extending smart grid applications nationwide.”

Ambient’s X-3000 node, running on Verizon Wireless’ network, provides the communications platform that enables data from residential and commercial smart meters, appliances and other applications to be transported via IP-based technologies over a utility’s smart grid system. This platform allows for two-way efficient collection, analysis and management of energy data to promote more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly operations.

“As the demand for smart grid applications and bandwidth expands and becomes part of the nation’s energy infrastructure, having the opportunity to offer a solution that allows for such growth in demand should significantly enhance the utilities’ ability to more efficiently serve their customers and reduce their carbon footprint.” said John J. Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Ambient Corporation.

The Verizon Wireless network provides Ambient’s X-3000 with a ubiquitous, reliable and secure data communications backhaul for the Ambient Smart Grid™ platform, which is designed to support such services as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), energy management, real-time pricing, demand side management (DSM) / direct load control, and system monitoring.

In January, the X-3000 was certified to run on the Verizon Wireless network through its open development program. Verizon Wireless’ open development program is driven by the company’s desire to encourage innovation, give customers new wireless choices, and quickly address opportunities to expand the wireless market.

Obama says yes to Smart Grid

Erika Lovley Erika Lovley Wed Mar 4, 4:24 am ET

Move over, Big Oil. There’s a new VIP guest in the White House: Silicon Valley.

Employees from some of the nation’s biggest high-tech companies bet heavily last year that famously tech-savvy Barack Obama would be good news for their bottom lines.

And it seems their wager paid off. Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill includes $4.5 billion in funding for the so-called Smart Grid, an ambitious plan to modernize the country’s electric grid that many Obama contributors are helping to shape.

Among the companies with significant stakes in the Smart Grid are technology giants Google, Microsoft and IBM, whose employees were top donors — and, in some cases, advisers — to Obama’s campaign last year.

Workers at Microsoft, along with family members and other associates, gave more than $800,000 to Obama, while people connected to Google contributed nearly $784,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And those with ties to IBM gave more than $517,000.

Executives at some of the companies also helped line Obama’s coffers. Google Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond gave $4,600, and so did Robert Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research. At IBM, three senior officials gave either $2,300 or $4,600, and at Microsoft, two senior officials each gave $4,600. IBM’s Michael Parham also was an Obama campaign bundler, committing to raise $200,000.

In contrast, Republican presidential nominee John McCain received well under $100,000 from people associated with Google, IBM and Microsoft, the most notable sum being $21,500 from Googlers.

Now most companies can only speculate how they’ll fit into the picture, since the Energy Department still has weeks to determine how the stimulus funding will be distributed. But thanks to a warm relationship with the Obama administration — and high-level interest in developing the Smart Grid, which would exploit technology to make producing and distributing electricity cheaper, greener and more efficient — none anticipate being left out in the cold.

Technology experts say they expect the money to be doled out to electric utilities rather than to technology developers. So Silicon Valley giants are moving quickly to secure long-term partnerships with power distributors, which will allow them to share in the proceeds and deploy technology they’ve peddled on Capitol Hill for years.

“We definitely expect to be working with clients that will be applying for stimulus funds,” said Allan Schurr, IBM’s energy and utilities vice president, who recently testified before the House Select Global Warming Committee. “We’ve been speaking with the Obama administration quite a bit.”

Amid the competition to partner up, Google is blazing its own trail, aiming to make itself indispensable not only to utilities but also to appliance manufacturers.

The company is shopping around Google PowerMeter, a developing online application that tracks home energy use online. But the application can’t be used without new meters and other infrastructure updates, so Google has partnered some of its efforts with General Electric, which is poised to sell millions of Smart Meters in the budding market.

“This will be something on the Web for people to use for free. It may create more traffic for us, and if that happens, that’s fine with us,” said one Google official.

Months before Obama was inaugurated, technology companies say they were talking to his transition team, paving the way for a stimulus package that would employ a revolution of energy transmission.

IBM was asked by the transition team to provide recommendations to develop jobs and national infrastructure — including the Smart Grid, which IBM estimated could create as many as 477,000 jobs with a $10 billion investment.

Schurr said that after nearly a decade of educational pushes on Capitol Hill, IBM finally saw serious headway when its ideas were echoed in Obama’s policy statements on the campaign trail.

“There has always been a low level of interest in this topic,” said Schurr. “But what really tipped the scale is when commodity prices started getting high, utility prices and pump prices went up. It really got people thinking about economic values.”

Google — a regular participant in White House tech talks — was particularly well-positioned to capitalize on the administration’s interest in the Smart Grid. The company’s climate change director, Dan Reicher, was a member of the Obama transition team and reportedly was on Obama’s shortlist for energy secretary. And he helped with the campaign’s Cleantech for Obama committee, which raised about $2 million. During the Clinton administration, Reicher was assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt campaigned for Obama, has attended economic summits with the president and reportedly turned down an opportunity to be considered for the White House technology czar job.

Long before the stimulus became law, many of the companies had begun to forge private-sector relationships to deploy their technology, spurred by the increasing growth of the renewable energy industry.

IBM is already providing Smart Meter technology to CenterPoint Energy, a Houston-based utility that is planning to deploy 2.4 million meters using IBM software over the next five years.

“If our wishes come true, we would look to apply for stimulus money that would allow us to accelerate the program we have under way,” said Tom Standish, operations president at CenterPoint, who estimated that his company could add as many as 2,000 new jobs per year with the additional funds.

“We could take a five-year project and accelerate it to a two- or three-year program,” he said. “We can immediately put people to work.”

Officials say the rush to join forces is partially because companies don’t have an entirely clear idea of what the Smart Grid revolution will look like — or where the Energy Department might steer future funding.

“We are trying to partner up,” said Shawn Cooper, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which hopes to provide 9.3 million new meters in California in the coming years. “We’re not sure what kind of conditions the stimulus will have. But with or without it, we’re moving forward with Smart Grid.”

'Smart Grid' Would Empower Consumers

'Smart Grid' Would Empower Consumers

* ByEileen Gunn, Special to TheStreet.com
* Thursday March 5, 2009, 11:26 am EST

There has been a lot of talk about improving the nation's aging power infrastructure, some stemming from President Barack Obama's plan to provide incentives for energy upgrades and "smart-grid" technology to boost the economy.

So, what's a smart grid and what does it mean for you?

A smart grid would turn our energy system into an interactive network connecting power stations, meters and home appliances. Utility companies would be able to collect real-time information about demand and supply to avoid blackouts, repair problems and get consumers to conserve. Companies are already on board.

Electricity providers have been installing meters they can read remotely. Exelon uses them to spot outages before angry customers start calling.

Whirlpool is developing appliances that can exchange information with power companies. Utilities could use that data in a Web site that would show consumers the devices using the most juice in their homes.

Companies ranging from Google to little-known Comverge are developing tools to help consumers track their power usage. The idea is that if we know how much it costs to run energy-guzzling appliances, we'll use air conditioners less and wash clothes in cold water.

Demand is expected to grow twice as fast as capacity in the coming years, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. Our consumption already outpaces that of other western nations on a per capita basis. Studies show that being able to track power usage typically leads consumers to cut back by 5% to 15%.

Consolidation Edison's handling of New York's outages last summer reveals the "dumb" state of our grid. The utility provided an online map that showed the locations of outages and repairs. But the clumsy map was updated every half-hour based on phone calls from customers and Con Ed workers.

A smart grid would use a wired and wireless network to help utilities identify the source of the biggest power drains. This would help them stave off blackouts during heat waves and keep the current flowing when they need to shut down a plant for maintenance.

After remotely spotting the outages, they might be able to reroute power and even fix broken lines remotely. All this means better service and fewer involuntary candlelight dinners.

The next step would be to allow utility companies to ratchet down customers' power use during critical periods. For example, they would be able to send a signal to your dryer to spin without heat to avoid brownouts during the summer.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory tested this smart-grid scenario in Washington and Oregon in 2006 and 2007. The group brought dryers and water heaters online using technology developed by IBM and General Electric . Consumers in the study didn't notice when their energy flow was reduced, the lab said.

Still, it might seem intrusive, or at least inconvenient, to allow a company to reach into one's home that way. I expect utilities to provide incentives like rebates and lower rates to entice customers to sign on.

We use electricity without much thought about how much we need, where it comes from or how much it costs. If a smart grid makes it easier for us to wise up, I'm all for it.

Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation Join Forces to Offer Utilities Smart Grid Communications Solution

Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation Join Forces to Offer Utilities Smart Grid Communications Solution

* Wednesday March 4, 2009, 8:30 am EST

Smart Grid Projects to Use the Network to Read Residential and Commercial Meters and Transmit Data

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and BOSTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Verizon Wireless and Ambient Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: ABTG - News) today announced a joint marketing agreement intended to facilitate the deployment of a host of smart grid projects around the country. The projects will allow utilities to transmit data from both residential and commercial meters over the nation's most reliable network to the utility companies' in-house systems.

Significant to the utility industry's move to the more efficient open standards-based technologies necessary for smart grid applications is access to a robust communications platform. According to Mark Bartolomeo, vice president enterprise data sales for Verizon Wireless, the company's Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) 3G network provides a secure, high-speed path for carrying data today and as the demand increases in the future.

"We've seen significant interest and growth in the utility sector for smart technologies," Bartolomeo added. "This joint marketing agreement helps us provide utility customers with a solution designed to aid them in planning for long-term growth and profitability. This comprehensive platform holds great promise for extending smart grid applications nationwide."

Ambient's X-3000 node, running on Verizon Wireless' network, provides the communications platform that enables data from residential and commercial smart meters, appliances and other applications to be transported via IP-based technologies over a utility's smart grid system. This platform allows for two-way efficient collection, analysis and management of energy data to promote more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly operations.

"As the demand for smart grid applications and bandwidth expands and becomes part of the nation's energy infrastructure, having the opportunity to offer a solution that allows for such growth in demand should significantly enhance the utilities' ability to more efficiently serve their customers and reduce their carbon footprint," said John J. Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Ambient Corporation.

The Verizon Wireless network provides Ambient's X-3000 with a ubiquitous, reliable and secure data communications backhaul for the Ambient Smart Grid(TM) platform, which is designed to support such services as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), energy management, real-time pricing, demand side management (DSM) / direct load control, and system monitoring.

In January, the X-3000 was certified to run on the Verizon Wireless network through its open development program. Verizon Wireless' open development program is driven by the company's desire to encourage innovation, give businesses new wireless choices, and quickly address opportunities to expand the wireless market.

IBM eyes stimulus funds for broadband over power lines

Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:59pm EST

NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - IBM (IBM.N) plans to take advantage of the U.S. economic stimulus package signed earlier on Tuesday by offering Internet services over power lines to more rural consumers.

IBM said its venture with International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC), a company that provides broadband over power line (BPL) services, had begun to sign up Internet customers in rural parts of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia and that it hoped to access more government funds.

The economic stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama included $2.5 billion for the Agricultural Department to expand broadband service in rural America.

International Business Machines Corp Chief Executive Sam Palmisano was one of several U.S. business leaders who met with Obama late last month, and IBEC's chief executive is set to meet with lawmakers on Wednesday to see how much of that funding would be available to the venture.

BPL technologies use radio signals which help connect Internet service over electric power lines. Consumers can access the Internet by plugging modems into power outlets.

Such services are widely seen as slower and less reliable than that of cable and phone providers, which offer increasingly fast connections as well as online video services with the help of fiber-optic networks and advanced network gear.

But IBM said the IBEC venture's service is aimed at remote and sparsely populated areas where advanced Internet services are not available, meaning the only competition would be traditional dial-up services which are even slower.

IBM said it did not know how much government funds it could receive but that the venture would proceed regardless, and that it expects broader Internet use to stimulate the economy and help create more business opportunities in the long run.

"In the long-term, the effort will lead to the expansion of small businesses and creation of new industries, bringing new jobs to rural Americans and driving net new economic growth," said Raymond Blair, director of advanced networks at IBM. (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Buzz grows for modernizing energy grid

By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Alternative energy is taking it on the chin this recession, with solar and wind developers canceling projects and laying off workers. But a far more obscure slice of the energy sector is hotter than ever: the electricity grid.

How hot?

President Obama has made modernizing the nation's vast power network a key piece of his $819 billion economic stimulus plan, passed by the House Wednesday. Last weekend he called for the installation of 3,000 miles of transmission lines to carry renewable energy to population centers and 40 million smart electric meters in homes. The House bill sets aside $11 billion to help finance the investments.

Obama's endorsement of a sweeping upgrade to the century-old grid is jolting an industry already on a roll. Top power companies and lawmakers lately have called for an up to $1 trillion nationwide backbone electric grid.

Meantime, utilities and venture-capital firms are bucking the credit crisis and pouring billions of dollars into the "smart grid."
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What's that? Simply put, the electric grid is finally following telecommunications, TVs and music into the digital age. Consumers with smart digital meters can better manage their electricity consumption and reduce their monthly bills. And utilities can more nimbly control the electricity that flows over their wires to prevent outages such as the 2003 Northeast blackout.

"It's like the Internet for the energy economy," says Katherine Hamilton, head of the GridWise Alliance.

Controversy

The proposal for a nationwide backbone grid is more controversial. Big wind and solar farms are planned for remote reaches such as the blustery Plains states and Arizona desert. But there aren't enough high-voltage lines to zap the power to coastal or Midwest urban centers. That's a problem: Many states impose renewable energy mandates.

Some states, meanwhile, don't want their residents to pay for lines they believe will spoil their rustic byways while largely benefiting neighboring states.

A 2005 law gave the feds new authority to designate special corridors for high-voltage lines and overrule states. But the process is cumbersome, and federal authority is murky.

Utility giants American Electric Power (AEP) and FPL Energy, the American Wind Energy Association and ITC Transmission are among those saying the U.S. government should have sweeping powers to approve high-voltage lines, especially if they're transporting renewable energy. While states would have input — deciding, for instance, which route a line takes — the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would have the final say and could allocate the cost burden among customers in various states.

"It's key to taking advantage of big swaths of renewable resources," says Susan Tomasky, AEP's transmission chief.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, says he plans to include the provision in an energy bill soon, adding the government "needs to play a larger role."

Although many states oppose the idea, a consensus is building for some type of expedited approval, says Reid Detchon, head of the Energy Future Coalition.

Meanwhile, a smart-grid rollout is already in high gear.

Even in last year's dismal second half, venture-capital firms pumped $183 million into smart-grid start-ups, as much as the previous four years combined, says Dow Jones VentureSource. That pace is likely to continue despite a recession that's slowing clean energy funding, says Greentech Media analyst Eric Wesoff. "2009 and 2010 are going to be the years of … the smart grid," he says.

About 70 utilities are proposing rollouts of smart grids costing $64 billion through 2016, says consulting firm KEMA.

Why?

While a solar-panel factory costs about $300 million, a venture capitalist can take a big stake in a smart-grid technology company for only $50 million. And capital expenses are more than recouped through cuts in electric bills, avoiding new power plants — key as utilities face greenhouse gas limits — and operational savings such as fewer truck dispatches, says Brattle Group consultant Ahmad Faruqui.

In turn, skeptical regulators are slowly warming to the idea of tacking charges on customer bills to fund the initiatives, says Fred Butler, head of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Another driver: Utilities are starting to install gear that relies on common standards, such as those used on the Internet, instead of proprietary technology. That's opening the market to more suppliers, says Adam Grosser of Foundation Capital, a smart-grid investor. Start-ups such as GridPoint and SmartSynch are developing software and sensors to run the grids.

Some benefits:

•Smart meters. Today, most consumers pay the same price for electricity, day or night. Digital meters let utilities offer variable prices to reflect wholesale power costs, like cellphone plans. Rates are typically highest at midday, when electricity usage peaks, and lowest in the wee hours.

Smart meters already are in 5% of U.S. homes and businesses, up from 1% two years ago, though many don't offer variable pricing yet. The devices will be linked to 40% of homes in five years, a recent FERC report says.

Consumers that choose time-of-use pricing are prodded to cut air conditioning use on hot days when the grid is stressed and shift, say, their laundry to later in the evening. Utilities avoid building plants needed only at peak hours. Customers on variable pricing in southern Illinois save about 10% on their bills, says program coordinator CNT Energy.

Companies such as GE are developing appliances that run at low levels when prices are high or turn on only after prices drop. Trilliant's software will even let consumers program their home networks from their iPhones.

•Plug-in electric vehicles. Car manufacturers plan to roll out large numbers of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in a few years. But if they all charge their batteries during the day, the grid couldn't handle the load. So cars typically will be programmed to recharge at night, when the grid is sparsely used and wind turbines are spinning furiously.

By the same token, hybrids could become mini-generating plants at midday. They could be plugged into office garage outlets, primed to feed power to the grid when prices surge, says Elliot Mainzer of Bonneville Power Administration.

•Utility benefits. Smart meters let utilities read meters and turn power on or off remotely, avoiding technician visits. Xcel Energy is putting smart-grid technology to work across its network in Boulder, Colo. Sensors remotely alert technicians when a transformer or other equipment has failed — or even when it's about to fail — preventing outages and doing away with costly detective work. Substations, newly computerized, can talk to each other so overloaded circuits hand off electricity to underused ones. That can sidestep blackouts and the need to build generators.

Southern California Edison has new relays that isolate outages. Also, if voltage drops, capacitors automatically inject more to stabilize the grid or other generators kick in.

That's critical if wind turbines suddenly shut down as gusts taper off. And if there's too much wind or solar power, smart batteries can store it for later use.

Ambient Launches X-3000 Node Certified for Use on the Verizon Wireless Network

Ambient Launches X-3000 Node Certified for Use on the Verizon Wireless Network
Ambient Incorporates Verizon Wireless Network Connectivity into its Smart Grid Solution

* Monday January 12, 2009, 8:30 am EST
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ambient Corporation (OTCBB: ABTG) announced today that its newest communications node, the X-3000, has been certified to run on the Verizon Wireless network through the wireless leader’s open development program. Verizon Wireless’ open development program is designed to offer businesses and consumers the ability to use devices, software and applications not offered by the company on its nationwide wireless network.

Ambient has incorporated the ability to access Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO 3G network into its newly launched, commercially available, X-3000 communications node. Verizon Wireless, America’s most reliable wireless network, provides Ambient ubiquitous and secure data communications for the node, an integral part of the Ambient Smart Grid™ solution. Ambient has sold and is currently delivering their latest product to a large North American utility.

Ram Rao, CTO of Ambient, commented, “Ambient recognizes the diverse needs of our utility partners as they explore various technologies and applications that require an increasingly flexible and robust communications network. To leverage Verizon Wireless’ network into the available backhaul options for our communications platform, we increase the robustness and flexibility of our smart grid communications solution, allowing Ambient to build out networks tailored to meet each utility’s individual needs.”

A robust communications network is the keystone to a modernized electric distribution grid, which allows for efficient collection, analysis and management of energy data, thereby promoting more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly operations. Ambient believes that it should be a major national goal in 2009 to advance federal legislation to decarbonize our economy and to create the most energy efficient economy possible. Ambient continues to design innovative communication and energy sensing products to help electric utility companies towards this important goal.

Utilizing the pervasiveness and reliability of Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, Ambient enables any IP-based application including, but not limited to:

* Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
* Energy management
* Real-time pricing
* Demand side management (DSM)
* Direct load control
* System monitoring

“Verizon Wireless supports Ambient’s commitment to deliver advanced energy solutions for the utility market over a secure communications network. The broad reach of Verizon Wireless’ network is a cost-effective way for Ambient to extend their utility solutions into topologies that are harder to reach by other common technologies,” stated Anthony A. Lewis, vice president of the open development program at Verizon Wireless.

Ambient’s communication nodes are tightly integrated devices that allow utilities to build private and secure communications networks, based on open standards, that can both integrate legacy utility systems and support the future requirements of the evolving smart grid. The nationwide coverage and strength of Verizon Wireless’ high-speed data network provides Ambient’s customers an additional real-time, two-way communications backhaul option for the X-3000 node. Such an option is required by the growing applications and needs within the utility market.