Smart Grid News Publisher Unveils SmartGridStimulus.com

Global Smart Energy, the company that publishes SmartGridNews.com, has launched a new site covering the impact of the ARRA on the Smart Grid. Smartgridstimulus.com will cover all things stimulus —including toolkits, policy updates, RFP’s, Department of Energy guidance, awards, and discussion threads where teams can find each other. “With the allocation of many billions of dollars of stimulus funding to the Smart Grid, and the upcoming Department of Energy Funding Opportunity Announcements, readers need even more specialized content to help them find funding, projects and partners,” said Founding Editor Jesse Berst.

   Smart Grid Stimulus home page

   Press release

eMeter Announces New Home Energy Management Tool

eMeter has announced Energy Engage, a Web portal for home energy management, that it hopes will convince users to make changes to reduce their power consumption. Chosen for a pilot study by PowerCentsDC, a public-private partnership backed by Pepco and Washington, D.C., regulators, Energy Engage hopes to surmount the challenge of changing customer behavior by providing a variety of tools such as text and email alerts, expert advice, and community pressure in the form of views about how energy consumption compares to others in the neighborhood. Like competitors Google Power Meter and GreenBox, Energy Engage is an online service that is free to customers and offers “detailed yet digestible” information on energy use. But it tries to go them one better by incorporating Web 2.0 technology and behavioral science.

   Quick Take: Just another reminder about how this is just about “data”’ The next question is: Who will convert this data to actionable knowledge?

   eMeter home page

SMUD Chooses Silver Spring for Smart Grid Project

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has chosen Silver Spring Networks to assist in its “Smart Capital” program, which will bring Smart Grid advantages to some 600,000 homes and businesses in California’s Sacramento county. The program includes distribution automation, home area networking, and tools and information to help customers manage their energy use. In addition, it will provide the utility greater information about its service area, which is expected to improve efficiency and reliability.  Silver Spring’s role will be to provide wireless network communications, software, and service. Deployment is expected to begin next month and to be completed by March, 2011.

   Silver Spring Networks press release