Following several years of development, demand response has now started transforming wholesale markets — and reducing costs for ratepayers.…
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EU gets closer to new energy efficiency, smart meter requirements
By September the European Union may have a new energy efficiency strategy in place. On June 14 negotiators struck a provisional deal on the proposed new EU energy efficiency directive (the “Third Energy Efficiency Directive”). Final approval is likely.…
Read MoreBuilding a business case for smart meters
Utility regulators tend to put investments in newer technologies such as smart meters under a microscope. Fortunately policymakers in over 30 states and countries have already found that the benefits of smart meters have exceeded the costs.…
Read More2012: Questions on the road ahead to the smart grid
Last week eMeter's Chris King shared his smart grid predictions for 2012. But also, as the new year turns, he says he's pondering these important questions, too:…
Read MoreLandis+Gyr snaps up Ecologic Analytics for grid big data
Meter giant Landis+Gyr has snapped up smart meter data management company Ecologic Analytics, the companies announced on Tuesday. Ecologic Analytics has been around for over a decade, and Landis + Gyr was already a minority shareholder in the firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.…
Read MoreHow should home energy management networks be controlled?
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 MoreHow to sell a smart grid startup: act like enterprise software
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 MoreThe smart grid acquisition tally to date
For the occasion of Siemens' swallowing eMeter, we have pulled together our recurring smart grid acquisitions list, including the new ones we have seen in recent months.…
Read MoreSiemens to buy smart grid software company eMeter
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 MoreSmart grid standards: a quick guide
eMeter's Chief Regulator Officer Chris King gives us a quick overview of what we need to know about smart grid standards, what standards are important and what we can look forward to.…
Read MoreSome smart meters aren’t so smart about Daylight Saving Time
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 MoreSiemens backs home energy startup Tendril
Power gear giant Siemens announced on Monday that it has invested in, and will also market technologies from, home energy startup Tendril. Tendril sells software and devices that monitor and manage the home energy consumption of consumers.…
Read MorePan-Pacific Smart Grid: Japanese Giants Move to Maui
Maui is set to become a smart grid showcase, courtesy of Japanese giants like Hitachi, Sharp and Hewlett-Packard Japan. These companies are among the partners that signed on to a long-range project announced Tuesday, aimed at integrating the Hawaiian Island’s renewable power and plug-in vehicles to come.…
Read MoreWill Consumers or Utilities Control the Future Power Grid?
As energy management becomes decentralized, there's a great opportunity for apps to help direct the flow. At Green:Net, three experts discussed how the responsibility for managing the smart grid will fall on the utilities, but the process will bring trading-floor approaches down to the consumer level.…
Read MoreThe U.K.’s Nationwide Smart Meter Cloud Plans
Can the cloud handle the energy and smart meter data of an entire country? The U.K. is working on several nationwide smart meter data clearinghouse projects that could be a start, and companies like IBM are targeting the market.…
Read MoreDemand Response Goes to the Cloud
Will demand response move to the cloud? Lockheed Martin is linking demand response with a cloud-based smart meter platform for cooperative utilities, and EnerNOC is turning to Salesforce.com for smart grid-customer interaction.…
Read MoreEnergy Market Deregulation and its Opportunities
Deregulated energy markets, with companies competing with one another for customers, could be great places to test how technologies and services engage customers. Whether that will lead to energy savings is less clear, however.…
Read MoreThe Future of Home Energy: The Cloud & Privacy
The cloud can make home energy management both cheap and powerful. But what if it turns out to run afoul of real — or imagined — privacy concerns?…
Read MoreVerizon Brings the Smart Grid to the Cloud
For months, Verizon has seemed to be trailing rival AT&T on smart grid initiatives. Not anymore, if news from the smart grid conference Distributech in San Diego this week is any indicator, including an announcement to offer a cloud-based smart meter management service with eMeter.…
Read MoreDespite Hurdles, Smart Meters Still Ramping Up Fast
Despite some setbacks, the U.S. smart meter push is continuing at a stimulus-fueled pace. Pike Research reported Monday that more than 90 U.S. utilities have 57.9 million smart meters planned and on the way.That's 7.9 million more than eMeter counted up.…
Read MoreBringing Utility Billing to Telecom Speeds
Smart meter systems, like cellphone networks, transmit and crunch a lot of real-time customer data, and customers don’t particularly like it when their bills don’t come out right. But tools that phone companies use to make sure bills are accurate can also help utilities.…
Read MoreNext Up for Netflix: Android Phones and Tablets?
Now that Netflix has an app on the iPad and the iPhone, it could make a push into the Android ecosystem based on job postings that have cropped up. An Android app could expand Netflix's audience base even further, especially on new Android-based tablets.…
Read MoreeMeter Raises More Cash from Sequoia, Foundation
The smart grid investing gurus at Foundation Capital and the venture firm that helped launch the likes of Cisco (s CSCO) and Google (s GOOG) -- Sequoia Capital -- have pumped more money into smart meter software maker eMeter.…
Read MoreTech Companies Call for Obama to Unleash Energy Info
Every home and business should have access to "timely, useful and actionable" energy information, said a group of close to 50 companies -- including Google, Silicon Valley venture firms, and smart grid startups -- in a letter addressed to President Obama on Monday.…
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