Microsoft Hohm launches for Xcel Energy customers
Microsoft Hohm, the software giant’s new home energy management system, is now available for the 3.4 million households served by utility Xcel Energy. This is the second time the tool, which makes energy use and pricing data available via a web interface, has been tested with a mass audience. It went live with Seattle City Light last month.
Xcel provides power to a diverse geographic customer base — spanning Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota,… Continue Reading
Trilliant, ABB partner to make Smart Grid technologies interoperable
Trilliant, provider of communications infrastructure used to beam energy consumption data between so-called smart meters, utilities and their customers, announced today that it is partnering with automation company ABB to make sure their technologies can talk to one another. This type of interoperability is one of the major issues impacting how and how fast the Smart Grid — a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid — takes hold in the U.S.
It seem to be all the… Continue Reading
Silver Spring pumps another $15M into smart grid tech
Silver Spring Networks, a company that wirelessly connects residential smart meters with utilities, has added another $15 million to its now $90 million fourth round of funding, reports VentureWire. Open since October, the round will help the company expand and bring more utilities into its fold.
Silver Spring, which competes with other smart grid meter companies like GridPoint, Ambient and SmartSynch, says it has about 500,000 homes in its network. These homes are outfitted with meters… Continue Reading
GridPoint lands more funds for smarter utility use
GridPoint, one of the largest companies in the emerging smartgrid sector, announced that it has brought in an undisclosed sum from Craton Equity Partners. Already working with several investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy Corp. and Xcel Energy, GridPoint says its system automatically manages energy loads and storage, integrates renewable sources and can be used to power electric vehicles more efficiently.
That last function is of particular importance to GridPoint, which acquired V2Green, a company that makes… Continue Reading
Smart grid company GridPoint heaps on $120M and buys electric vehicle startup V2Green
GridPoint, one of the largest of the smart grid startups, who aim to more intelligently distribute energy across the electrical grid, has more than doubled up on its prior funding with $120 million. Along with the new money, it has bought out V2Green, which makes software for electric vehicles to efficiently plug into the grid.
This latest move shows a company trying to get a leg up on a bevy of well-funded competitors, who include Silver… Continue Reading
DOE and X Prize pledge $150M in new clean technology grants
The U.S. DOE will invest up to $50 million in nine electric grid efficiency demonstration projects over the next 5 years, an an effort to reduce peak load demand in ways that could prevent the need for more power plants.
These so-called Renewable and Distributed Systems Integration (RDSI) technologies have become a key focus for the federal and local governments, which hope to reduce peak load electricity demand by at least 15% at distribution points.
Though it… Continue Reading
GridPoint, a well-funded smart-grid startup, raises $15M more
GridPoint, a smart-grid company that can intelligently manage energy sources and storage for utilities, has pushed its total equity raise to $102 million with an add-on of $15 million to its fourth round.
The company works to distribute the power and storage of utilities, as well as tying in unreliable renewable sources like wind and solar power. The GridPoint SmartGrid Platform is the locus of these services, a node in homes and businesses that communicates back… Continue Reading