Smart Grid Round-Up: VC, Quotes, News and Links

A quick rundown of smart grid news, investments and events

Eric Wesoff January 18, 2010

Eric Wesoff

Editor-at-Large
Greentech Media

Eric Wesoff is Editor-at-Large at Greentech Media. Prior to joining GTM, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields.

His expertise covers solar power, fuel cells, biofuels and advanced batteries. His strengths are in market research and analysis, business development and due diligence for investors. He frequently consults for energy startups and Silicon Valley's premier venture capitalists.

Smart Grid News

President Barack Obama awarded $2.3 billion in Recovery Act advanced energy manufacturing tax credits for clean energy manufacturing on Friday. About $23 million of that went to smart grid applications -- with awardees including:

Itron to re-equip a facility to produce its smart meters
Cooper Power for two projects involving transformers
Ice Energy for energy storage units for use with direct expansion AC in commercial and small industrial applications
Metglas to increase domestic production of amorphorous metals that form the core of most energy efficient transformers
Premium Power to manufacture energy storage systems
S&C Electric to produce a fault-interrupting device for overhead distribution system applications and switchgear for underground distribution
Southwire for new manufacturing lines to produce cables for wind and solar applications

Whirlpool, Direct Energy, Best Buy and Lennox are set to launch a small-scale pilot in Houston to study energy usage and smart grid behavior of consumers.

Smart Grid Investment

We have three smart grid investments so far in 2010, only two weeks into the year:

Wheb Ventures' investment in UK home energy management firm, Passiv Systems
EcoFactor's $2.4 million raise
Verdiem's $4.7 million from Kleiner Perkins and Microsoft for PC energy management

Add that to the $120 million investment in smart grid we saw last quarter:

Smart Grid Quotes to Go

“70 percent of consumers with programmable thermostats don’t use them even though they could save significant money. Any new device has to be incredibly easy, convenient, and interactive to keep consumers engaged.” Will West, CEO, Control4

“The utility industry is trying to figure out how to get smarter. It’s a major dilemma for this industry but the change is unstoppable.” Allan Schurr, VP, Strategy and Development, IBM Global Energy & Utilities Industry

“Bills don’t go down automatically just because you have a smart grid. The customers have to do something. [We need] something that everyone can use so they can reap the benefits of the smart grid.” Patrick James, Director of Smart Grid Technologies, TXU Energy

Links of Note

Is Apple Getting into Energy Management?

The Smart Grid in 2010: Market Segments, Applications and Industry Players Free Download

Smart Grid Security Blog

From Brian Fahri at an EPRI workshop, "UCAIUG is to the smart grid what the Vatican is to Catholics."

Smart Grid Events

Grid Com Forum Febuary 2-3, 2010
Santa Clara Convention Center Santa Clara, CA