Nine more utilities, and three large energy vendors, announced support on Thursday for the Green Button project, which enables utility customers to download their energy consumption data with a click of a button and also use that data for energy-saving apps. Read more »
As expected, at an event at the White House on Monday, Obama administration officials unveiled a slew of programs and initiatives that will aim to help add information technology to the power grid to make the grid more efficient and more secure. Read more »
Quiet smart grid player Digi International is already providing networking for some of the best-known names in the industry, and it’s aiming to move into the emerging world of cloud-based smart grid services and applications as well. Read more »
California’s grand experiment with power market deregulation ended with a bang in 2001, when Enron-engineered rolling blackouts. But in Texas, power market deregulation — or competition, as folks down here prefer to name it — is in full swing. Read more »
The Lone Star State may lag behind California in its number of smart meters deployed, but it’s taken a lead in regulations and funding. And those are just a couple items in a long list of reasons why, despite one or two cost barriers, Texas may ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When it comes to the future of smart meters, don’t look to California — set your eyes on Texas. The Lone Star State lags California in sheer numbers of meters deployed, but has taken a lead in supporting them with regulations and funding. Read more »
In most states utilities raise electricity rates in order to pay for the installation of new gear like smart meters — so consumers basically cover the cost of the upgrade. But some consumers and PUCs aren’t so happy about those terms. Read more »
What if the most successful home energy-saving technology ends up being the one people have to opt out of? Utilities can sign customers up for programs automatically, unless they actively choose not to join. Companies targeting the home energy management space should remember this powerful tool. Read more »
In a wave of bad news for smart meters this summer, finally some good news: A Texas Civil District Court judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Oncor that accused the utility’s new smart meters of overcharging customers. Read more »
Vimeo is expanding the availability of its online video site with a new universal player that will work on iPhone and iPad mobile devices, as well as a channel on Roku broadband set-top boxes. The site is also adding a “Watch Later” feature to its player. Read more »
After weeks of testimony, Baltimore Gas & Electric has gotten itself back into the good graces of Maryland state regulators. The utility announced Monday that the Maryland PUC approved the redrawn project on Friday, meaning BG&E won’t have to return a $200 million DOE stimulus grant. Read more »
It’s imperative that smart grid firms start wooing consumers, and EcoFactor’s consumer-friendly approach to monetizing its technology looks very promising. Here are three tips from the home energy management firm’s playbook for other startups eyeing ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Nobody likes high-voltage transmission lines running through their backyards, not even in the energy-loving heart of Texas. Recently a group of landowners (the Heart of Texas Landowners Coalition) persuaded the state’s regulators to force utility Oncor to reroute a $100 million transmission line around their property. Read more »
Allan Schurr, Vice President of Strategy and Development for Energy & Utilities at IBM, has his finger on the pulse of IBM’s efforts to tie together the various chaos of systems that will make up the smart grid. Read more »
When four-year-old EcoFactor, which makes software that intelligently manages connected thermostats, officially launched last November, a lot of folks took notice — Apparently including investors. EcoFactor announced this morning that it has raised another $3.5 million from RockPort Capital Partners. Read more »
The fisticuffs over smart meters in Dallas, Tex. has morphed into a good ol’ American lawsuit. The Dallas Morning News has been covering the story and reports that a couple filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing Texas utility Oncor of fraud. Read more »
The backlash against the smart meters installed in Texas by utility Oncor doesn’t seem to be dying down. Actually the protesters are getting more organized and turning to social media. A group called Smart UR Citizens — whose members describe themselves as “a group of Texas […] Read more »
YouTube’s users are uploading 24 hours of video every minute, the site’s director of product management Hunter Walk just announced. From Walks’s blog post: “A day’s worth of content uploaded to YouTube every minute is a big achievement for our community and speaks to the role […] Read more »
Uh-oh, another local backlash against the installation of smart meters — and this time it’s not in Bakersfield, Calif., the home of the original smart meter lawsuit that rattled utilities nationwide late last year. The Dallas Morning News (hat tip Green Inc) reports that “hundreds” of […] Read more »
Not all new products are debuting at the CES this week, as is the case with the new Fujitsu Lifebook UH900. This little handheld clamshell has a 5.6-inch screen and runs Windows 7. The little computer has Atom inside along with a 62 GB SSD to […] Read more »
