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 consumers and utilities, and to integrate various Smart Grid applications and devices.
Specifically, Ambient will be supplying Duke with its X-series communication node, a device that captures energy use data and… 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, it’s simply the first to integrate a lot of features that debuted in the U.S.
For example, one of the Sparzahler’s celebrated features is that it’s the first European smart meter… 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 to lower costs at every stage of the energy distribution process and to upgrade grid infrastructure to reduce outages and improve security.
To accomplish these goals, the networking giant will create… 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 of when they think smart grid.
Companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric are all working on lower-profile grid projects like storage-minded microgrids… 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 to wirelessly deploy smart grid programs like energy load control, real-time pricing applications, stand-by generator control and more detailed monitoring capabilities.
SmartSynch is one of the leading companies in the burgeoning… 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
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 expansive AT&T network, saving millions of dollars in network infrastructure, expansion and maintenance costs.
Now any consumer with AT&T service will be able to understand their energy consumption in economic terms,… 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
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 load balancing. The company facilitates communication between companies and their utility, as well as providing a “smart car charger” for electric vehicles.
The terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. SmartSynch is… 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 poised to take off. But for many of these firms, growth may be less of a rocket ride than a long, slow trudge uphill.
The smart grid, also called advanced metering… 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 lines around the county. So for a day or two, or even a week, the daily entree was grilled cheese from the fireplace, and we all went to bed early.
Was… 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 energy consumption on a near real-time basis. It also helps them cut down on costs by preventing leaks and detecting outages.
Its submetering systems can be installed in residential and commercial… 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 past few months, the efficiency-focused smart grid space looks to have emerged as the hot cleantech venture space du jour.
“Smart grid” is a catch-all term for a number of technologies… Continue Reading