Smart Grid Newsletter (SGN) is the insider's guide to the Smart Grid revolution. It consists of a free weekly email summary, along with a companion Web site (www.smartgridnews.com) that contains the full stories and other helpful materials. Archives of recent issues of the newsletter can be found here.
Tropos Networks says its newly released GridCom 2.0 gives utilities the capability of integrating and managing an optimal mix of wireless technologies that will meet the varying communications requirements throughout their service areas.
FERC is asking for comment on a study conducted to identify the tools needed to manage electric grid operations and expansion to ensure grid reliability. Comments should be filed by March 5, 2011.
Bloom Energy today announced a new program designed to attract new customers who can't or don't want to invest in the spendy fuel cell equipment. Bloom is offering those customers the option of paying only for the electricity produced without making the initial investment in the equipment.
Duke Energy and China-based ENN Group have agreed to work together on developing China's first smart city, or "eco-city," in Langfang, near Beijing. Duke expects to use the experience it gains in helping with the project in its own clean energy technology deployments.
As part of a research project, a Purdue undergrad contacted 100 utility call centers using phone numbers found on their websites. According to a Forbes.com blog titled 'Utilities still stupid about smart grid,' the student asked a few very basic questions about smart meters and the smart grid. We were stupefied by the answers he received.
VYCON, designer and maker of high-speed energy storage flywheel systems, has shipped its 300th flywheel system. The company says its fleet of systems has logged a record 5 million discharge and recharge cycles in extremely demanding applications.
A Government Accountability Office report says that while progress has been made in developing smart grid security standards and guidelines, there are serious shortcomings that need to be addressed asap by NIST and FERC. Read the story and Jesse Berst's take on what it all means.
Radio frequency emissions from smart meters fall within FCC safety standards and are much lower than emissions from microwaves and cell phones, according to an independent California panel. But the group also recommended continued study of the issue.
International open standards consortium OASIS has set up a new group to work on integrating privacy and security policies into a variety of systems and processes. And the OASIS Policy Management Reference Model isn't going to be yet another policy: It will be a tool to help those involved in the smart grid, finance, insurance and other industries come up with solutions to privacy issues.
Investments in clean-tech such as renewable energy and other smart grid technologies and equipment reached a record level of $243 billion globally in 2010, according to a new study report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Control4 continues its full-court press as a leader in IP-based home control systems. The company will team with Silver Spring Networks to offer a HAN solution that's interoperable with utility smart grid and demand response systems. It also announced its selection by AEP Ohio to pilot customer experiences in home energy management for AEP's smart grid demonsration project.
It's going to take smart energy management to move the EV rollout forward, and a public-private Bay Area Group and Green Charge Networks think they've got the answers.
China is spending billions on smart grid technologies and infrastructure, but has been behind the eight ball on one critical issue: no smart grid standards. GE, which is involved in numerous joint ventures in the country, took it a step further when it agreed to help the Chinese develop a set of national standards.
As we connect more devices to the grid, produce more data and integrate legacy systems with new systems, the challenge of securing it all can hit like a ton of bricks. We talk a lot about smart grid security – but can we really make it so? That's this week's Tuesday Topic.
Duke Energy has been planning to expand for at least a decade, so its acquisition of Progress Energy in an all-stock, $13 billion-plus deal isn't a major surprise. But it may be the kind of consolidation the sector needs.
AES Energy Storage has introduced an 8 MW battery-based storage system to help grid operators level the variations between electricity generation and load. The system is in use in the New York Independent System Operator service area, and the project is said to be the first of its kind in the country.
Supervisors in California's Marin County are the latest to try a moratorium on smart meter installations, citing health concerns in their 4-0 vote this week. The action may be largely symbolic, but also highly visible.
Colorado regulators this week cut 38% from the $13 million a year Xcel Energy charges customers to pay for the beleaguered SmartGridCity pilot project in Boulder. The PUC chairman referred to the project as a "dead end."
Intelligent energy storage provider Ice Energy will work with indoor comfort systems and services provider Trane to create energy storage-compatible, high-efficiency air conditioning solutions for commercial customers.
ABB, the ambitious power and automation technology group, has announced it will acquire Obvient Strategies, Inc. The move will add business intelligence software to ABB's software offering for asset management, power distribution automation and smart grid applications.
What to do about energy-hungry commercial buildings? DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will team up with a big box store chain, a university, the U.S. Army, the Job Corps and others to retrofit existing buildings or design new ones to dramatically ramp up energy efficiency.
A study from Newton-Evans Research says spending in North America for substation automation and integration programs is now at more than $500 million, with the very real potential to reach $10 billion.
Seoul-based LG Electronics used the Consumer Electronics Show to unveil its new line of smart appliances, promising that its LG THINQ™ Technology will transform the way consumers manage their homes. Sounds like too much, too soon from where we sit.
A smart grid trial in Liverpool appears to be giving broadband over power line technology a new lease on life. Overcoming technical limitations that have stalled BPL in the past could mean a major value stream for the electric power network.
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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