Ignoring the threats by Congress to kill off white spaces, the Federal Communications Commission has approved commercial operations of the first networks and devices to tap into the airwave gaps between TV broadcasts, potentially setting off a new revolution in ‘Super Wi-Fi’ services. Read more »
Of the $30 million that I reported that smart grid company Silver Spring Networks is raising, $24 million of that will come from storage and IT giant EMC. Read more »
Smart grid company Silver Spring Networks is raising a $30 million round of debt and options, according to a filing. The company, which filed to go public this summer, has closed $24 million of that planned round and is looking to bring in another $6 million. Read more »
It is becoming abundantly apparent that, while there is still focus on install rates of physical smart meters, what will matter in the future is how well the data from these smart meters can be secured by utilities and how well utilities can use that data ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Check out the wild jerry-rigged grid action going on in some of the areas of Old Delhi. Now that is some craziness. Check out my little photo essay of Old Delhi’s “grid gone wild:” Read more »
Realizing full benefits from a smart grid ultimately means controlling devices in customers’ homes, businesses, and other facilities. But who should exercise that control, and how? Read more »
The Climate Group has a new report out following up its seminal Smart2020 report, and the team is touting the benefits of open APIs (application interfaces) for creating more energy-efficient and smarter cities. Read more »
One of the key ways that eMeter has developed over the past 20 months since its current CEO Gary Bloom came on board has been to act like an enterprise software company, according to an indepth interview with Bloom in Xconomy. It’s a solid tip. Read more »
Efforts to modernize the U.S. grid in recent years have emerged as a hodgepodge of pilot projects, the installation of new technology and hefty financial backing from the U.S. government and private investors. How to plan for such a change is a daunting task. Read more »
Power and engineering giant Siemens will buy smart meter software company eMeter, the companies announced on Monday. While the companies did not disclose the price, this is one of the most high-profile deals for the smart grid in 2011. Read more »
Retroficiency, a startup out of MIT that uses software and big data to create energy retrofits for buildings, has raised a round of $3.2 million from Point Judith Capital and has acquired the energy efficiency division of Nexamp, called Clean Energy Solutions. Read more »
PG&E plans to start testing out home energy gadgets and software starting in March 2012 with a small group of customers, and the utility unveiled details of its plan this week. Here’s what you need to know. Read more »
Here’s the smart grid world according to Cisco and nine points you should know about Cisco’s smart grid goals. Read more »
When people think about cleantech, they typically think about solar panels or converting biomass into fuel. But the momentum right now in cleantech is as much about connectivity and how it can drive energy efficiency as it is about advancing sources of renewable energy. Read more »
Call it M2M, the Internet of Things, or a web that talks back, but once we start connecting devices and sensors we’re adding complexity to a system that’s already highly complex. Axeda wants to deliver a cloud with the intelligence capable of managing the connected world. Read more »
The momentum right now in cleantech is as much about connectivity and how it can drive energy efficiency as it is about advancing sources of renewable energy. And as the web and mobile connectivity change our consumer experiences, the opportunities to redefine cleantech are rich, and they are already happening. This research note examines the cleantech space in that context and analyzes the car-sharing, home-energy-management and smart-grid sectors and their relevant companies to see how connectivity will play into their future endeavors. Companies mentioned in this report include RelayRides, Opower, Silver Spring Networks and Nest. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
AT&T is launching yet another new business division, this one called Digital Life Services. The operator hasn’t revealed many details about the new unit, but from the sound of it, this may be AT&T’s attempt to tackle the smart grid, targeting consumers and businesses directly. Read more »
Twenty-one cleantech startups from across the U.S. competed for a grand prize of $250,000 in investment and services at this year’s Cleantech Open Business Competition. And the winners are . . . Read more »
Energy software startup Opower has hired a chief financial officer, Thomas Kramer, and is mulling over a potential IPO down the road. Kramer was previously the CFO at Cvent, and created the eCommerce strategy for Boston Consulting Group. Read more »
When it comes to the promise of data as the currency of the web, the current state of affairs has privacy advocates and many consumers up in arms. But it doesn’t have to be the one-sided affair it is today, in which companies have all the data and all the rights, and we shouldn’t have to be afraid of who’s doing what with our information. With laws, products, practices and education, data can become a far more valuable currency than cash ever was. Keeping that in mind, this research note examines five issues that must be addressed by policy makers and entrepreneurs so that they can deliver on our data-driven digital future. Companies mentioned in this report include Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
It seems — and is — a geeky thing to write about, but Daylight Savings Time can cause serious problems for some smart meters and meter data management systems. Read more »
The emergence of the smart grid has raised concerns about cybersecurity among utilities; two-way digital networks are more vulnerable. But according to utility executives, distributed power generation technologies, such as solar, particularly combined with energy storage, could help minimize the impact of an attack. Read more »
The Internet of energy is rapidly approaching. According to research firm Berg Insight, there will be 602.7 million smart meters installed throughout the world by 2016. That represents a compound annual growth rate of 26.6 percent between 2010 and 2016. Read more »
Consert, a startup that uses Verizon’s 3G network to curb energy consumption of homes, is in the process of raising $8.75 million in equity and debt, according to a filing. Read more »
If there’s one thing the Obama administration can do to push clean energy, it’s make sure the necessary transmission lines get built. On Wednesday, the administration said it’s starting a pilot project to speed up the approval and construction process of seven transmission lines. Read more »
Startup Zome Energy Networks spoke for the first time on Wednesday, and the company says its algorithms will “revolutionize the smart grid” and do for the power grid what Google’s algorithms did for the web in the ’90s. Read more »
Despite Cisco ditching its home and building energy management products, the router giant is still focusing on the smart grid. Cisco’s CEO and SVP of Connected Energy on Tuesday discussed the importance of using social networks as a third leg of the smart grid. Read more »
Put one on the board for the cellular smart grid. Utility Consumers Energy announced that it will work with SmartSynch to roll out cellular-based smart meters for 1.8 million customers. Read more »
Boston-Power, which once dreamed of building a lithium-ion cell battery factory in the United States, announced Tuesday it has lined up $125 million of investments to shift a big part of its business to China and thin its operation in the U.S. by about 35 percent. Read more »
The U.S. Department of Energy released a report Thursday that aims to help public and private sectors figure out ways to protect the grid against cybersecurity breaches. Here’s 10 ways to deal with cybersecurity in a smart grid world. Read more »
A new Y Combinator–style incubator that will focus solely on the intersection of energy and information technology is launching in Houston, the founder of the group, Kirk Brand Coburn, told me in an exclusive interview. Read more »
Earlier this year we reported that energy software startup Opower was considering adding a home energy device to its portfolio. A half year later here’s Opower’s first foray into hardware: the company announced it has partnered with building automation giant Honeywell to sell a connected thermostat. Read more »
Startup Regen Energy, which has developed “swarm logic” software that can manage appliances in buildings and electric cars like a swarm of bees, has raised a Series A round of $5.5 million in financing from investors. Read more »
Utilities will spend $3.2 billion this year in telecommunications services, but only a third is related to smart meters. A growing proportion will pay for mobile broadband for workers as part of a wider shift to thinking mobile broadband access is essential for productivity. Read more »
Despite the seemingly downward short-term trend for cleantech investing, corporations and investors continue to back the green building sector. On Wednesday San Francisco–based energy-efficient building company Project Frog announced that it has raised $22 million from GE and a group of investors. Read more »
Hurricane Irene wasn’t the raging monster that some forecasters expected, but it’s left millions without power for days, and even weeks, at a time. However, outages from major storms could be shorter and faster to fix after smarter grid technology is installed. Read more »
Peddling home energy management gear and software successfully is harder than it seems, and big companies such as Microsoft and Cisco are ditching this market. EnergyHub is staying and on Thursday announced a $14.5 million round to help it sell products and services to consumers. Read more »
Duke Energy is turning to cellular networks as the backbone for its smart grid. The utility detailed the network plan in a white paper released earlier this month, and revealed one of the most aggressive uses of cellular networks by the utility industry in the U.S. Read more »
The undercover smart grid player Digi International is about to get a lot less undercover. On Wednesday, telco giant AT&T said it has partnered with Digi to offer home and building energy applications for the 13 million smart meters that connect to AT&T’s wireless network. Read more »
