New York Times: Utilities Seek Fresh Talent for Smart Grids

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

Published: December 29, 2010

By some estimates, the smart gridcould help reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent a year by 2030 and save $20 billion a year for utilities and ...

Rise of electric cars prompt 'smart' electrical grids in Portugal

Portugal’s long-term target of 750,000 electric cars fits with its smart energy plans. Already, the country has 40 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources.

SmartGridnews.com: Smart grid companies to watch in 2011? We’re taking your nominations now

Dec 21, 2010 

Which companies will we all be talking about next year? Which ones will be out in front, leading the smart grid charge? Nominate your picks for the 11 smart grid companies you think should be on our radar in 2011.

All you have to do to nominate a company for the SGN 11 is enter it in the TalkBack form below or send an email tonominations@smartgridnews.com. Be sure to include the name of the company and a quick explanation why you think it will be a 2011 Smart Grid superstar. But hurry: Nominations must be received by midnight on Jan. 5 to be considered.

Our SGN 10 revisited

How did the companies you chose as last year's most promising fare? From the quick updates below, it looks like our savvy readers did a pretty stellar job of picking "watch worthy" companies.

Ambient: Ambient started out in smart grid communications but has moved into the fast-growing area of grid applications. In December 2010, it, announced the latest release of AmbientNMS, an open and intelligent IP communications platform for smart grid applications. Wall Street Equity Research says Ambient sales have been strong recently, noting that their products have boosted third quarter profits to nearly $2 million versus a net loss the year before.

Beacon Power: This fall the flywheel maker signed a $2.8 million contract with ARPA-E to develop a highly advanced long-duration flywheel for renewable energy integration. That's on the heels of an August award of a $43 million DOE loan guarantee that is helping finance the company's 20 MW flywheel plant in Stephentown, N.Y. Even so, the company dodged a bullet earlier this month when NASDAQ ruled against de-listing Beacon. The company's stock (BCON) has been trading below the $1 threshold since October, 2008. Beacon now has until March to comply with NASDAQ rules.

Consert: In July this Raleigh, N.C.-based smart grid technology provider got a $17.7 million funding round from GE, Verizon and others to support strategic marketing, sales and enhancements to its smart grid software. The company was also a winner in GE's $200 million ecoimagination Challenge. At first glance, you might think that Consert is just another player in the overcrowded home energy management sector. But its partnerships with GE and Verizon and its ambitions to play in the growing virtual power plant market may help it separate from the pack.

GRIDiant: I wrote about GRIDiant's smart grid optimization when it launched its GRIDmaster suite back in March. In November, the Raleigh, N.C.  company released another part of that suite, GRIDresponse enterprise grid optimization application, which maximizes the effectiveness of demand response programs while minimizing their impact on customers.

Powerit Solutions: Our readers weren't the only ones to see promise in this Seattle-based provider of energy management systems. This fall it ranked No. 71 on Deloitte's 2010 Technology Fast 500. The company attributes its 1812% revenue growth during the period 2005-2009 to its ability to cut customers' energy bills. The Seattle-based company, which uses technology originally developed in Sweden, lets industrial companies “pre-program” their responses to demand response requests from utilities, so power gets cut back in an intelligent, staged manner that minimizes repercussions while still qualifying for demand response payments.

REGEN Energy: We haven't heard a lot about this Toronto-based company this year, although there are reports it's been talking to California utilities about using swarm logic to intelligently manage EV charging. Based on past briefings by the company, I believe this may be clever technology that is still searching for the right problem to solve.

SmartSynch: No shortage of news about this Jackson, Mississippi smart grid infrastructure company, from partnerships with Sprint and Verizon, SmartSynch’s successful pilots with Duke Energy and formation of the GridRouter EcoSystem to push smart grid interoperability.

Tropos Networks: A quick scan of headlines will tell you this company has been a player this year. Just in the last couple of weeks alone we've seen utilities choosing Tropos' wireless mesh network and Elster announcing it will resell Tropos' networking products.

Viridity Energy: This Philadelphia company was involved in one of the year's more novel energy stories. Its energy management software is part of a smart grid pilot to store electricity generated by subway braking.The company was also selected to build and operate the power trading platform for the Tres Amigas Superstation and to collaborate with EDSA on a groundbreaking San Diego microgrid project.

VYCON: This flywheel technology company started the year with a $13.7 million round of funding to accelerate manufacturing of its energy storage systems. In August the Yorba Linda, CA company was named to the Inc. 500 list of the most entrepreneurial and fastest growing private companies in the U.S.

So now let's move on to 2011. Use the Talk Back comment form below to enter your nominations, or send an email to nominations@smartgridnews.com.

Ambient Corporation applications are
available on America’s largest and most
reliable 3G network: Verizon Wireless.

Ambient Announces Market Availability of Newest Version of Network Management System, AmbientNMS--- Updated Management System to Enable and Support the Continued Growth of Market Leading X-3100 Smart Grid Communications Node

Updated Management System to Enable and Support the Continued Growth of Market Leading X-3100 Smart Grid Communications Node

Boston, Mass., December 9, 2010 – Ambient Corporation (OTCBB: ABTG), a leader in smart grid communications infrastructure, today announced the availability of the latest release of its industry-leading network management system, AmbientNMS®. As the cornerstone of Ambient’s smart grid infrastructure, AmbientNMS provides a powerful, open and intelligent IP communications platform for the deployment of smart grid applications. AmbientNMS can be scaled to accommodate the increasing number of Ambient X-3100 nodes and related endpoints.

The upgraded capabilities in AmbientNMS include customized lists and maps, data traffic prediction, control modules, and new aggregation tools. These upgrades are part of Ambient’s continual process to enhance Ambient’s smart grid communications platform.

“With the total orders for our X-3100 smart grid communications nodes now nearly 83,000 units, the total number of end points supported in aggregate by these nodes is expected to nearly triple the over 200,000 endpoints served today.  This new release of the NMS system is designed to support beyond this level of scaling while adding new features and capabilities,” stated John J. Joyce, President and CEO of Ambient Corporation.

Ambient’s smart grid architecture is designed to promote more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly energy delivery operations.  Its flexibility and functionality allows for efficient two-way communication, collection, analysis and management of energy data from multiple sources and systems not available today from other vendors.

“For more than 10 years, we have been delivering an open and secure communications platform. We have already received significant orders for our proven, field deployed technology, while providing or supporting an increasing number of smart grid applications and we expect that trend to continue,” stated Ram Rao, SVP and CTO of Ambient Corporation. “An intelligent and robust network management system that scales is necessary for this expected increase in applications, and the new AmbientNMS is built to not only support existing applications, but others that may come along.”

Smart Spending on a Smart Grid

Smart Spending on a Smart Grid
Nov 1, 2010 12:00 PM

By Cathy Swirbul, Contributing Writer

Transmission & Distribution World profiles the utilities receiving the top smart grid investment grants. Their smart grid projects are the foundation on which other projects nationwide will be built.

In October 2009, the U.S. federal government awarded $3.4 billion in investment grants for 100 smart grid projects through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Approximately 30 investor-owned utilities and an equal number of municipals were selected as recipients of the grants, along with a few cooperative utility projects involving dozens of individual co-ops in different states. Industry will match the federal grants for a total investment of more than $8 billion, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

Specifically, the grant program provides $1 billion for the installation of smart meters and related customer programs that will enable communication between utilities and customers. Approximately $2 billion is allotted for the infrastructure required to support networks of smart grids. Another $400 million will be used to modernize transmission lines, both to limit the losses during transmission and to allow greater long-distance transportation of power. An additional $25 million is earmarked for the development of smart device manufacturing capabilities.

All of the projects receiving the investment grants must be executed by April 19, 2013. The DOE will distribute the grant funds as project work progresses over that time period. As a stipulation of the funding, the companies submit detailed monthly progress reports that include schedule and cost updates to ensure that the work is being completed on schedule and within budget. On a quarterly basis, the companies must report on the number of jobs created. Semi-annually, they must identify the benefits realized from the projects. After April 2013, the companies must report on the project benefits up to two years after completion.

All of the states, with the exception of Alaska, have smart grid projects that received investment grants. The majority of the awardees were utility companies, though hundreds of technology solutions companies will benefit from increased business with utility clients because of the grant funds.

Smart Grid Benefits

In announcing the smart grid investment grants, Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained in a press release how the United States will benefit from smart grid.

“These investments will be used to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid that will help integrate renewable resources onto the grid, deliver power more reliably and effectively with less environmental impact, and create new jobs across the country,” said Chu. “By investing in updating the grid now, we will lower utility bills for American families and businesses, lessen our dependence on oil and help advance a clean energy future for the nation.”

more: http://tdworld.com/iep/smart-grid-spending-20101101/

Smart grid efficiency could make 2010's energy usage 'disappear'

Smart grid efficiency could make 2010's energy usage 'disappear'

Whenever smart grid experts talk about transforming the nation’s aging power grid, the focus is usually on the efficiency that will result. And for good reason — the potential gains are so huge, they might just exceed our current electrical usage.

At this week’s Advanced Energy 2010 Conference in New York City, GE’s Bob Gilligan laid out a scenario in which the total U.S. energy consumption and emissions saved between 2010 and 2030 could exceed the entire electrical consumption and electrical CO2 output for all of 2010. “The net result would be like 2010 never happened,” he explained.

Gilligan, vice president of digital energy for GE Energy Services, said that in addition to the energy and pollution savings, that scenario would create 140,000 sustainable new jobs and an electrical landscape that includes 3.3 billion fewer customer outage minutes. These improvements could result in savings of $65.7 billion from reduced power interruptions by 2030.

Granted, all this good news comes with an ever-growing backdrop of bad news. Gilligan noted that as cities continue to grow around the world, they will house more than 60 percent of the world’s population and consume a vast majority of its power by 2030 — something that an electricity infrastructure designed a century ago can’t supply. For example, approximately half of the transformer equipment powering the U.S. grid is currently at or approaching the end of its design life, he said.

This is happening as global electricity demand is forecasted to increase 75 percent by 2030 — with more than 40 percent of our emissions already coming from electricity generation. At the same time, costs are also rising — in the U.S., rates increased an average of 42 percent between 2000 and 2007.

“The good news is that we are not talking gloom and doom,” he said, underscoring that the technology is ready now and deployable. The key to an energy revolution, he says is to take “measured, affordable evolutionary steps.”

If that evolution begins now, Gilligan estimates that the power saved will be equal to the output of 64 average coal plants (500 megawatts each) while the CO2 impact will be the equivalent of taking over 25 million cars off the road. Another upside: “These are conservative adoption estimates,” he said, “so imagine the benefits if we move more quickly.”

Why the Smart Grid Will Fuel the Next Big Business Boom

Why the Smart Grid Will Fuel the Next Big Business Boom
http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idU...

Tue Oct 12, 2010 1:00am EDT

There's no question that in order to meet our clean energy goals across the globe, we need a smarter grid. Integrating high percentages of renewable power will require a smarter grid to help manage the challenges presented by the inherent intermittency of wind and solar. 

To greatly reduce our oil imports and carbon emissions, we need greener transportation and electric vehicles, which require grid intelligence to ensure increased demand from vehicle re-charging does not cripple our electric infrastructure.