We're making our way through the list of companies SGN readers have nominated as 2013 Companies to Watch. Click to see which six nominees are featured in today's installment - Part 6 - and vote in our daily poll to help decide which companies will make it into the next round as we work our way toward 13 in 2013.

This case study highlights CPS Energy's efforts to improve its distribution operations with an integrated distribution operations platform that includes OMS and advanced DMS network applications. The solution, provided by Ventyx, has improved operational efficiencies for control room and field resources. Shorter outage times has been another benefit.

ABB will pick up Australia-based enterprise software and services provider Mincom, a move it says will add depth to its enterprise management offering – and beef up its leadership position in the key growth sectors of natural resources and energy.

Few smart grid startups are tackling heavy equipment for the grid. That leaves an enormous market to be carved up by the Big Three – ABB, GE and Siemens – which have just been joined by Alstom Grid as the smart grid’s Big Fourth. It is an epic clash, with tens of billions of dollars at stake. Head over to SmartGridNewsTalk, where Jesse Berst and industry insiders are debating who is in the lead now and who will be the ultimate winner.

Turns out 2010 was a banner year for smart grid venture capital investments and mergers and acquisitions. Venture capital funding almost doubled compared to 2009, said consulting company Mercom Capital Group. And not a bad year for wind and solar, either.

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.

ABB will acquire specialist software provider Insert Key Solutions, a move intended to create a broad set of solutions for asset and work management, maintenance optimization and equipment reliability.

A new PriceWaterhouseCoopers quarterly report says the increased value and volume of mergers and acquisitions in the second quarter of 2010 provides reason for continued optimism in the utility and energy generation sector. And stimulus funds and Smart Grid deployments play a big role.

Grid Net and Oracle are partnering to provide advanced distribution management systems and meter data management technology to support utilities' Smart Grid installations. The solutions are intended to enhance grid reliability and allow utilities to make smarter energy choices.

It's been a busy week so far for Smart Grid wheeling and dealing: INFRAX Systems acquires Trimax Wireless, Tesla's IPO gets raves and Consert nets almost $18 million from heavyweight investors.

Ventyx®, the world’s largest private software, data and advisory services provider to the energy and utility industry, today announced the newest release of its Customer Suite customer information system (CIS)/billing software solution. The release includes additional support for advanced metering and many new features designed to expand utility client’s revenue management capabilities, including credit and collections enhancements improving the ability to recover past due balances.

Leading power and automation technology company ABB will build a new U.S. factory to manufacture high-voltage transmission cables.

When ABB announced its acquisition of Ventyx last week, we warned you to watch for even more announcements like it. Long-time industry watcher Chuck Newton dropped us a note to say he agrees. In fact, he believes the purchase will give ABB “a significant market position” in the burgeoning enterprise utility Smart grid software market... beyond that of competitors Areva, GE and Siemens. We thought his comments were so insightful, we asked him to share them here on SGN.

ABB has agreed to acquire Ventyx for more than $1 billion from Vista Equity Partners. The move should triple the energy management software market for the Swiss global power and automation technology group.

ABB, the global power and automation technology group, has agreed to acquire Ventyx for more than $1 billion from Vista Equity Partners to become a leading provider of software solutions for managing energy networks.