Cisco Buys Stake In San Francisco Smart-Grid Company

By Andrew Morse, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)-Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) has bought a stake in a privately-held smart grid company, marking the networking giant's first investment in a technology it sees as being part of its future growth.

Cisco purchased a stake in Grid Net Inc., a San Francisco-based maker of software used to digitally manage the transmission of electricity over power grids. Grid Net also makes software used in smart meters, displays placed in homes that allow people to use electricity when it is cheapest.

The deal, which was concluded about a month ago, is expected to be announced as early as Thursday. Neither San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco nor Grid Net would comment on the size of the investment, but a person familiar with the situation indicated it was less than $10 million.

The investment comes as technology companies like Siemens AG (SI) and General Electric Co. (GE) stake claims in the growing smart grid market. Cisco has been particularly vocal about the prospects of the smart-grid market, which is estimated to be worth about $43 billion in the next few years.

The concept behind smart-grid technology is to modernize the electricity industry by using digital communications to help optimize the flow of electricity and ensure dependability. Many concepts are similar to those used in controlling the flow of information over communications networks, which automatically route around bottlenecks or disruptions.

"The idea that this will mirror how communications networking technology works is spot on," said Laura Ipsen, who runs Cisco's smart grid projects, in an email. "We believe that an (Internet Protocol)-based communications infrastructure will form the basis of the smart grid from generation to business and the home, much as it created the backbone of the Internet."

Ray Bell, Grid Net's chief executive officer and a Cisco alum, said the two companies would work together on new products that integrate both companies' technologies. He added that Cisco has an observer on Grid Net's board of directors.

Grid Net counts General Electric and Intel Corp. (INTC) among its partners.

Tollgrade Signs Interoperability and Co-marketing Agreement with Ambient Corporation

Tollgrade Signs Interoperability and Co-marketing Agreement with Ambient Corporation
 

Creating a Best-in-Class Remote Monitoring Solution for Electric Utilities

PITTSBURGH, March 22, 2010 -- Tollgrade Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLGD), a leading supplier of service assurance products and solutions, today announced that it has completed an interoperability and co-marketing agreement with Ambient Corporation (OTCBB: ABTG), a pioneering integrator of smart grid  communications platforms, headquartered in Newton, MA. The joint offering will empower electric power utilities with real-time grid intelligence via a robust communications network, enabling them to improve overall efficiency and reliability of energy delivery.

The companies have collaborated to integrate Tollgrade's LightHouse™ software agent and the Ambient Smart Grid® Node, enabling the LightHouse sensors to leverage the communications and remote management services available on the Node. Customers who purchase the joint solution can now deploy LightHouse sensors for outage notification, real-time fault detection and location, and continuous load monitoring and also have the ability to integrate other smart grid applications, such as AMR/AMI, distribution automation, and outage management systems. The Ambient Smart Grid® platform enables the building of an IP network utilizing a variety of standards based technologies to aggregate and transport data from all the smart grid applications.

"The integration of these two innovative products will enable electric power utilities to have the real-time intelligence they need to manage the distribution network and proactively identify and correct network troubles," said Joseph Ferrara, Tollgrade's President and CEO.

John J. Joyce, President and CEO, Ambient Corporation, added "In today's Smart Grid market, such collaborative efforts between companies such as Tollgrade and Ambient demonstrates what is required to form best-in-class solutions that will create opportunities for faster adoption of new technologies and realization of smart grid efficiencies."

For a discussion regarding the joint solution, which is available for deployment immediately, stop by the Verizon Wireless and Ambient shared booth 139 at DistribuTECH, March 23-25, Tampa FL.

Japanese Smart Tech shares rise !!!

By LAUREN COOPERPosted 7:15 AM 03/15/10

"The prospect of China spending $586 billion on building an energy smart grid in the next 10 years sent shares in Japanese tech companies that specialize in energy transmission soaring today, according to Bloomberg. A smart grid delivers power around the country, and has an intelligent monitoring system, which not only keeps track of all the energy coming in from diverse sources, but can detect where energy is needed through a two-way communication system that collects data about how and when consumers use power. It is safer in many ways, including being more resistant to attack and power outages"

Bloomberg: Smart-Grid Federal Grants Spared From U.S. Tax, Treasury Says

March 10, 2010, 5:39 PM EST

By Mark Drajem

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Companies that receive U.S. stimulus grants from a $3.4 billion smart-grid electricity project will not be taxed on those funds by the federal government, the Treasury Department said today.

The decision lets the Energy Department proceed with grant agreements in the coming weeks, according to a joint statement from the Treasury and Energy departments.

“By clarifying the tax treatment of Smart Grid Investment Grants, we are ensuring that their full impact is felt in the communities where these investments are being made,” Dan Tangherlini, Treasury’s assistant secretary for management, said in a statement

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