The countdown continues. We're now featuring our fourth installment of 2013 Smart Grid Companies to Watch nominees. Scroll down to read about six more companies SGN readers think should be on our radar in 2013 (and why) – and then vote for the one you think should move into the next round.   How it works: We are running daily quick polls with each group of nominations until we have introduced all of this year's contenders. Then we'll take the 25 companies that got the most votes in the daily polls and run a final poll -

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where you'll select our 13 in 2013 finalists. So unlike previous years, you can vote for one company in each group of nominations. We've linked the previous installments at the bottom of the page in case you missed them.

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Please note: In many cases what you see below is a condensed version of the nomination that was sent in since many folks had trouble limiting their nominations to

So our fourth set of 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. And finally, be sure to come back next week to see who else has been nominated.

Agentis Energy is an industry leader at behavior-based energy-efficiency programs for utilities and their business customers. The company is currently working with three investor-owned utilities, including Commonwealth Edison and We Energies, and has several more in the 2013 pipeline. Agentis Energy’s partnership with ComEd has produced one of the first and largest behavior change pilots
focused on business customers. U.S. ratepayer-funded electric efficiency budgets totaled over $6.8 billion in 2011, a significant and growing opportunity. While the business sector is responsible for 2/3 of all power consumption in the U.S., it has been underserved by behavior-based efficiency programs. Agentis Energy provides utilities with an innovative and cost effective way to use ratepayer efficiency dollars to help their business customers. Agentis Energy website>>

Ceiva -- In an industry crowded with bland in-home displays, Ceiva has entered the fray with a truly compelling offering which leverages a highly successful point of presence within the home to connect consumers to energy and water data. By working with ZigBee Smart Energy, ERTs, and Green Button data, Ceiva can present electric, gas, and water data to consumers, using either near real time data from local smart meters or historical data from the back office. Ceiva's technology focus is on delivering relevant data to consumers, whether they have Internet access or not (phone lines can be used for the cloud), and to embrace true interoperability, so that other ZigBee devices from other vendors can co-exist with Ceiva's products. This focus on delivering relevant information at a compelling price point, while avoiding the "mean time to kitchen drawer" syndrome, truly sets Ceiva apart from other display vendors in the smart energy space. Ceiva website>>

EnerNex continues to lead the NIST SGiP activities throughout 2013. They continue to provide industry needed leadership for DNP3 and IEC 61850. They are furthering client security efforts with industry leading cybersecurity experts. They are leading the industry in the application of good architecture practices leveraging SGAC's Conceptual Architecture work. They continue to provide most of the industry's Smart Grid Roadmap activities. They built one of the top Smart Grid Labs to test disparate equipment and software in real world conditions. Their CTO is the chair of DOE's GWAC, their director of Enterprise Architecture co-leads IEC TC57 WG19 Smart Grid Architecture activities and the SGAC's architecture development activities. EnerNex website>>

HOUZE Advanced Buildings Sciences -- The company’s zero energy homes incorporate the company’s advanced energy efficiency technologies, including the Power Cell, an on-site cogeneration system. The homes also come fully integrated with AT&T’s Digital Life products and service. This suite of technologies results in the most advanced, affordable homes available anywhere in the world, which are offered with the company’s Zero Energy Warranty of no electricity or gas payments for 10 years. Demand response and smart grid ancillary services are a key enabler of the company’s strategy to implement its line of zero energy homes. The company expects to expand into 10 major metropolitan markets in 2013 and an additional 20 in 2014. HOUZE website >>

On-Ramp Wireless is making the “Internet of Things” a reality through pervasive, cost-effective wireless connectivity. It is doing so by leveraging existing partnerships and building new ones to expand the On-Ramp Total Reach Network Machine-to-Machine (M2M) ecosystem. In 2012, On-Ramp demonstrated the value of its network in the utility market via DoE-sponsored field trials on San Diego Gas & Electric’s and Southern California Edison’s distribution lines. The demonstrated performance results proved that On-Ramp’s solution achieves the DoE’s 2015 and 2016 targets to reduce SAIDI by 5 percent and 10 percent respectively through distribution automation and will provide millions of dollars a year in operational costs savings. In 2013, worldwide utility customers will be driving similar efficiency and grid reliability improvements by deploying advanced metering, demand response and distribution automation solutions on the On-Ramp Total Reach Network. On-Ramp Wireless website >>

Petra Solar -- Smart distributed PV that enhances grid power quality, mitigates intermittency of PV through Volt/Var controls, gives visibility of the LV circuits to utilities with advanced 2-way communication network and fully supports microgrid operation. All of this with the inherent benefit of a micro inverter based system (module level power optimization, modularity, simple deployment). Petra Solar website >>

Did you miss any of these?

Part 1: Ambri, Comverge, FirstFuel, S&C Electric, Trilliant, Watt Intelligent Solutions

Part 2: Awesense Wireless, Echelon, GELI, IUS Technologies, Power Analytics, Sensus

Part 3: Belden, DNV KEMA, Enlighted, ISA Sensing, NextStep Electric, Siemens