Duke Energy taps Ambient for Smart Grid communications
Duke Energy, one of the largest utilities in the U.S., has selected the Ambient Corporation to provide the wireless communication technology for its smart meter roll out. Based in Newton, Mass., the publicly-traded networking company provides equipment to beam energy consumption data two ways between… Continue Reading
German utility Yello Strom steals the smart grid spotlight — at least for today
The net is abuzz today with talk of Yello Strom, the German utility that reportedly takes smart grid technology and web integration to the max with its new Sparzahler meter — rivaling U.S. utilities that are just beginning to adopt green initiatives. But, on closer inspection,… Continue Reading
Cisco joins the race for a leaner, cheaper smart grid
Cisco Systems threw its hat into the increasingly crowded smart grid ring today, laying out a more defined strategy and projecting that this market could soon be worth up to $20 billion a year. The core of its plan is twofold: to partner with utilities… Continue Reading
Californian grids are about to get a whole lot smarter
California’s biggest utilities all have major smart grid strategies in the works vying for a chunk of the federal stimulus bill’s $4.5 billion earmarked for revamping the country’s electrical grids . And these plans surpass the roll-out of residential smart meters that most people think… Continue Reading
SmartSynch ups utility control with smart grid box
Smart meter provider SmartSynch has announced it’s developed a new smart grid communication box that will transmit energy use data to and from utilities via public wireless networks. Called the Universal Communications Module (UCM), this new technology is intended to enhance smart meters, allowing utilities… 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… Continue Reading
AT&T partners with SmartSynch to bring the smart grid to your neighborhood
AT&T announced today that it will open its wireless network to smart meter maker SmartSynch, allowing electric utilities to install its IP-based smart grid technology in even more residential areas. Every SmartSynch SmartMeter will now send energy use information to utilities and homeowners over the… 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… Continue Reading
SmartSynch picks up Applied Mesh Technologies
SmartSynch, one of a half-dozen smart grid startups that have raised tens of millions of dollars in funding, has acquired a communications company in Atlanta, Georgia called Applied Mesh Technologies.
Applied Mesh’s specialties include commercial and industrial solutions for managing various types of power networks and… Continue Reading
Smart grid adoption could turn out to be slower than expected
Following a spate of hefty financings this year, culminating last week with Trilliant’s $40 million funding, it looks a bit like smart grid startups — companies that give the meters on homes and businesses the ability to communicate with utilities and other devices — are… Continue Reading
On the anniversary of our biggest blackout ever, are we on the road to another?
When I was a kid in rural Virginia, losing electricity was a yearly event around Christmas. Situated on the outskirts of a large utility’s territory, my family was among the last to have its power restored when, inevitably, a big winter storm knocked trees onto… Continue Reading
Eka Systems raises $18.5M for smart metering
Eka Systems, a Germantown, Maryland-based utility metering company, has completed a $18.5 million fourth round of funding, led by Flybridge Capital Partners. Returning investors included RockPort Capital Partners, The Westly Group and Metropolitan Investments.
Eka’s scalable smart networking technology allows utilities to monitor and analyze their… Continue Reading
Smart grid investments come hot and heavy — SmartSynch gets another $20M for talkative electrical meters
Two days ago it was Optimal Technologies with $25 million toward software for electrical grids; today, it’s SmartSynch with $20 million for wirelessly communicating meters. I haven’t gone back and done an official count, but with well over half a dozen large fundings in the… Continue Reading