We received so many thoughtful nominations for our Smart Grid Companies to Watch competition this year that we decided to switch things up. Instead of SGN editors making the first cut as we've done in the past, we're asking readers to do it. Starting now. How it works: In coming days we'll introduce you in random order to companies that were nominated this year. The only nominations you won't see are those received after the deadline and those that didn't include any real explanation of why the company has the makings of a 2013 smart grid superstar. We will run only one nomination per company, even

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if more than one was received. And in many cases we will provide a condensed version of the nomination since many folks had trouble limiting their nominations to a single paragraph. You should also know that we have not verified the accuracy of information contained in nominations.

The first six company nominations appear below. If you think one of them deserves to be in the final 25, be sure to vote in the quick poll. Note: Once you have voted the poll data will disappear. Also feel free to use the Talk Back comment form below to lobby on your choice's behalf. Finally, be sure to come back tomorrow to see who else has been nominated.

Ambri is developing an electricity storage technology known as the liquid metal battery (LMB). The LMB is a novel approach to electricity storage and early results are very promising. The LMB was invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the lab of Professor Donald Sadoway and inspired by the notion of reversing electrometallurgical processes that consume large quantities of electricity, like aluminum smelting, and storing that power for future use. Our goal from inception has been to create a low-cost, flexible, long-lifespan and safe electricity storage technology. Ambri’s LMB is unique amongst other electricity storage technology options. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates and the energy company Total. In May 2012, Ambri raised a Series B round of financing for $15 million.  For Ambri, 2013 is all about technology development in preparation for field demonstrations by customers of its first commercial prototypes in 2014. Ambri website>>

Comverge --In 2013, Comverge will build on its momentum from 2012. Highlights from 2012 included significant new customer wins and the continued success of a historic program with Africa’s largest utility, which included the delivery of more than three gigawatt hours of energy reduction. In addition, Comverge continued to play a critical role in maintaining grid reliability, achieved significant industry milestones and brought innovative new solutions to market. On the customer success side, the company’s IntelliSOURCE platform was selected by Progress Energy Florida to help the utility manage one of the largest smart grid projects in the world. Comverge also set an industry landmark by becoming the first company to enroll one million customers into residential demand response programs. Finally, the company launched SmartPrice, its intelligent dynamic pricing solution, which secured immediate market interest with adoption by three utilities. Comverge has several exciting product launches planned for 2013 which will change the way the company is viewed by the market. Comverge website>>

FirstFuel is one of the pioneers in delivering measurable and scalable commercial building energy efficiency savings. They work directly with large utilities to identify operational EE savings in commercial buildings that can be implemented at little to no cost. We believe that they will transform how utilities engage commercial customers in 2013. Utilities and government agencies deploying FirstFuel’s platform have seen 6-8x improvements in energy efficiency cycle times, an 80-90 percent decrease in building analysis costs, and an average of 15-20 percent savings opportunities per building. FirstFuel is financially stable – raising $12.4M in funding from prominent clean tech investors Rockport Capital, Battery Ventures and Nth Power and has signed several strategic partnerships, including becoming the first remote audit and energy analytics application available in Johnson Control Panoptix application marketplace. FirstFuel website>>

S&C Electric Company is transforming the electric delivery infrastructure into an intelligent grid that provides the efficiency, reliability, and stability required in the 21st century. Whether it’s helping utilities automate our country’s grid to restore power or prevent outages all together, maximizing output from renewable projects with expert interconnection solutions and energy storage, or developing comprehensive solutions to monitor and modernize aging grid assets like underground distribution equipment in Brazil, S&C is applying its century-long history of innovation, extensive distribution automation experience and deep knowledge of today’s power grid to create the intelligent, dynamic grid needed to power our energy future. Building on the past year, S&C will focus on deepening its distribution automation capabilities, improving power reliability and efficiency for data centers and other large power users, creating new solutions to simplify smart grid deployments, and helping utilities create a business case for smart grid investment to help earn public buy-in for modernization projects that will really make a difference. S&C Electric Company website >>

Trilliant remains at the forefront of the smart grid industry with new projects, deployments and services. In 2012, the company continued on its path to global expansion with smart grid successes in Asia and Latin America. It made considerable headway in the Latin American market with a partnership with ELO Sistemas Eletrônicos, a leading metering technology provider based in Brazil. 2012 was a milestone year for Trilliant in terms of its offerings. Early in the year, the company debuted the revolutionary Trilliant Communications Platform, a solution purpose-built for utilities and energy retailers. Trilliant is clearly poised for even greater success in 2013. Trilliant will continue its progress with respect to customer successes, global expansion, thought leadership, and continued innovation. The company already has plans for new solutions to best meet its customers’ needs and further expansion into global territories like Asia, Latin America and the UK. Trilliant website >>

Watt Intelligent Solutions is a technology startup focused on understanding how household owners use electricity at home and helping them become more energy efficient. Analysis is made through a proprietary software that uses the aggregated electricity consumption data as provided by smartmeters with resolution time of 5 to 15 minutes. It is able to disaggregate the energy consumption of the main appliances of a household without requiring any additional equipment other than the smart meter being installed, and from this new layer of information, targeted energy efficiency information may be generated for every household, aimed at identifying and quantifying the financial benefits of the adoption of more energy efficient behaviors. Watt-IS adopts a B2B business model, and intends to partner with energy utility companies. Watt-IS website >>