Advocacy and Education

GridWise Alliance

http://www.gridwise.org  

Snapshot

A leading advocacy group comprised of private and public companies that support modernizing the electric system of the United States.  

Smart Grid Efforts

GridWise Alliance is made up of many big players in the energy industry. Members are aligned around a vision of an electric system that integrates the infrastructure, processes, devices, information and market structure so that energy can be generated, distributed, and consumed more efficiently and cost effectively; thereby achieving a more resilient, secure and reliable energy system. They recognize that emerging energy and information technologies have the potential to radically improve the efficient use of the nation’s energy system. The Alliance and its members advocate change locally, regionally, and nationally to promote new policies and technology solutions that move us closer to this vision.  

The Alliance has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy to organize the annual GridWeek event in Washington D.C. that brings together Smart Grid stakeholders and thought leaders. In October, 2009 GridWise announced it was discontinuing its GridWeek participation in favor of developing its own event, the GridWise® Global Forum.

Key People

• Guido Bartels, Chair
  Guido Bartels, General Manager of IBM's Global Energy & Utilities industry, is responsible for managing IBM's business and strategic initiatives with the energy industry, including regulated and unregulated companies providing generation, energy wholesaling, and energy services. Bartels is also a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, a 30-member group representing some of the country’s top public and private sector electricity and energy policy leaders.

• Katherine Hamilton, President
  Katherine Hamilton joined GridWise after being the policy advisor for Good Energies, Inc., a private investment company with a current portfolio in clean energy technologies of more than $6 billion. She has had extensive experience developing policy and partnerships in clean energy with both public and private sectors.  

Members

3Tier, ABB, Accenture, Alcatel-Lucent, Ambient Corporation, American Electric Power, Arcadian Networks, AREVA T&D, Austin Energy, Autodesk, BC Hydro, Beacon Power Corp., Bridge Strategy Group, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Cellnet+Hunt, Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies, CenterPoint Energy, Cisco Systems Inc., CMEA Ventures, Con Edison of New York Inc., Constellation Energy, Consumers Energy Company, Cooper Power Systems, CURRENT Group, Duke Energy, Electricite de France, Elster Integrated Solutions, Energy Insights, EnergySolve, EnerNex Corp, Environmental System Research Institute, Florida State University - Center for Advanced Power Systems, GE, Google, GridPoint, Inc., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Institute of Electric Power Engineering - TU Clausthal, Itron, KEMA, Inc, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, Midwest ISO, Milsoft Utilities Solutions, National Grid, New York ISO, Northern New Mexico College, Open Systems International, Optimal Technologies International, PJM Interconnection, Progress Energy, R.W. Beck, RockPort Capital Partners, RuggedCom, SAP, Sempra Energy: San Diego Gas & Electric, SensorTran, Inc., Serveron Corporation, Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc., Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Site Controls, SmartSynch, Solar Integrated Technologies, Tendril Networks, Tennessee Valley Authority, Utilities Telecom Council, VELCO, Washington State University, and ZIV USA, Inc.

GridWise Architecture Council

www.gridwiseac.org  

Snapshot

The GridWise Architecture Council is a team of industry leaders who are shaping the architecture of a highly intelligent and interactive electric system. The council was formed by the U.S. Department of Energy to promote and enable interoperability among the many entities that interact with the nation's electric power system.  

Smart Grid Focus

The council is neither a design team, nor a standards-making body. Its role is to help identify areas for standardization that allow significant levels of interoperation between system components. It works to outline a philosophy of inter-system operation that preserves the freedom to innovate, design, implement and maintain each organization's portion of the electrical system.  

The council enlists industry involvement to:

• Articulate the goal of interoperability across the electric system
• Identify the concepts and architectures needed to make interoperability possible
• Develop actionable steps to facilitate the interoperation of the systems, devices, and institutions that encompass the nation’s electric system.

Current Members

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Demand Response Coordinating Committee

www.demandresponsecommittee.org

Snapshot

Formed in 2004, the Demand Response Coordinating Committee (DRCC) is a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization of independent system operators (ISOs), utilities and other parties that works to develop and exchange energy information among regions, states, and practitioners. The DRCC is also the official representative body for the U.S. in demand response activities at the International Energy Agency (IEA).  

Smart Grid Focus

A recent example of the DRCC’s smart energy efforts is its report released in late 2008 on state and federal policies that have been enacted or are under development in recent years in the area of demand response, smart meters and Smart Grid technologies.  The report was produced by the DRCC for the National Council on Electricity Policy, a coalition of several organizations representing policy makers. A major focus area for the DRCC has been the interconnection of traditional energy efficiency, demand response, renewable energy, and climate change. 

Industry Members

Ameren, American Electric Power, Commonwealth Edison, DTE Energy, ISO-New England, MeterSmart, MidAmerican Energy, Midwest ISO, National Grid, NYSERDA, Pacific Gas and Electric, PJM Interconnection, PPL Electric Utilities, Progress Energy, Salt River Project, San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, Southwest Power Pool, Tennessee Valley Authority, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Xcel Energy.  

Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition

www.drsgcoalition.org  

Snapshot

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) is the trade association for companies that provide products and services in the areas of demand response, smart meters and Smart Grid technologies.  

Smart Grid Focus

DRSG works to educate and provide information to policymakers, utilities, the media, the financial community and stakeholders on how demand response and Smart Grid technologies such as smart meters can help modernize the U.S. electricity system and provide customers with new information and options for managing their electricity use.

Key People

·         Dan Delurey, Executive Director

Delurey runs Washington D.C.-based Wedgemere Group, which specializes in providing communications and government affairs services to energy and environmental companies. Wedgemere is particularly known for its work in the area of demand response. Wedgewood and Delurey also operate the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG).

Corporate Members

Aclara, Ambient, CalAmp, Comverge, Conservation Services Group, Corporate Systems Engineering, CPower, Direct Energy, Echelon Corporation, Eka Systems, eMeter, Energy Capital Partners, EnergySolve, EnerNOC, Enspiria Solutions, Google, Honeywell, IBM, Ice Energy, Itron, KMC Controls, Landis+Gyr, Lutron, Oracle, Orion Energy Systems, PCN Technology, Sensus, Silver Spring Networks, SmartSynch, Steffes, SureGrid,  Tendril, Trilliant Networks, Ziphany

Edison Electric Institute

www.eei.org  

Snapshot

Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is an association of shareholder-owned electric companies. It advocates on behalf of members before Congress, federal and state regulatory agencies, the courts, and various industry organizations. EEI also compiles statistical highlights on the industry as a whole, including: capacity, transmission, generation, fuel mix, emission reductions, sales, and provides and makes available key financial data on the shareholder-owned electricity industry.  

Smart Grid Focus

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is a one strong focus of EEI.  In 2008 the affiliated Institute for Electric Efficiency (IEE) was launched to focus on accelerating the industry’s energy efficiency and demand response efforts and increasing the industry’s associated investments where it tracks such things as plans and proposals for smart meter utility deployments.