Michael Kanellos 06 12 09, 3:07 PM

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Update: Silver Spring Nabs Cisco’s Ethernet Queen

Judy Lin, the Senior Vice President of Cisco's Ethernet Switching Technology Group, has joined Silver Spring Networks.

Earlier in the week, we first reported that Silver Spring had nabbed a higher up at Cisco and a source close to situation confirmed the name. The non-personing of Lin at Cisco, in fact, has already begun. She's been removed from the executive bio page at the networking company, which is the equivalent of having your face chiseled off a monument in ancient Egypt.

The melodrama between the two companies will be one of the more entertaining issues in the greentech world. Not as fun as the Elon Musk-Martin Eberhard feud, but the outcome will likely be far more important. Silver Spring makes technology for allowing meters to communicate to utilities. The heart of the company's technology is a networking card. It can be fit into a meter or into equipment at a utility station. The company has signed a massive contract with PG&E to install millions of meters in California. It has been one of the most successful companies in raising VC funds over the past two years.

Cisco, of course, is the king of IT networking and earlier this year unfurled its strategy to get into the energy management and smart grid markets. Cisco will start by controlling power in phones and networking equipment with its Cisco EnergyWise software platform, but will ultimately move into controlling power in buildings.  Both companies are working with Florida Light and Power on a million meter project in Miami. Cisco bought Richards-Zeta Building Intelligence in January and more are expected (I predict Verdiem will be one of the next it will buy).