The Networked Grid — A Greentech Media Conference on the Smart Grid

What is the current smart grid infrastructure? How will we deploy the smart grid? Answer these questions and more by joining some of today’s leaders in the smart grid movement, next Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at Greentech Media’s The Networked Grid conference. The morning and afternoon keynote speeches will be given by PG&E’s Andrew Tang, senior director, smart energy web, and Oracle’s Linda Jackman, vice president of product strategy and management, utilities business. Also joining them will be speakers from California’s big three utilities and its public utilities commission, PG&E, SDG&E, SCE and CPUC, as well as companies such as ABB, Cisco, Control4, Coulomb Technologies, Enernex, Google, GridPoint, GTM Research, Intel, Oracle, Siemens, Silver Spring Networks, Stanford Research Institute, Tendril, Verizon Wireless.

Once a simple idea of monitoring energy consumption, the Smart Grid is and has been a concept of the future in progress. The leaders of the Smart Grid initiative strive to create an “intelligent” and self-sufficient system that stretches from homes to public utilities. A Smart Grid is the system that facilitates the delivery and consumption of energy. Through rapid technological innovation, the Smart Grid is poised to help increase energy efficiency by improving responsiveness, handling current and future demand of energy, and accounting for all energy use. Imagine having an intelligent system monitor and react to inefficient energy use – reducing this overall energy use results in potentially reducing costs for you, the consumer, and your energy provider as well.

Because the Smart Grid is such a large infrastructure that spans from the home to utility companies, it requires copious technologies, including “smart meters” and metering software. GTM Research’s Smart Grid Taxonomy explains the Smart Grid as the convergence of three industries/sectors: electric power, telecommunications infrastructure, and IT (information technology). Among the many corporations spearheading the foray into the Smart Grid are the aforementioned names attending The Networked Grid conference. Furthermore, the Obama administration allocated $3.4 billion in federal stimulus for Smart Grid development, and on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 publicly named 100 utility projects that will share the funding.

Given the presence of the utilities and Smart Grid product suppliers in attendance, the Networked Grid conference promises to provide a valuable inside look at the future of the Smart Grid. It’s not everyday that the behemoths of the Smart Grid, both competitors and partners alike, gather to share and discuss the direction of the Smart Grid, near term timeline, and other trends and ideas that will soon materialize into reality. And, as an official media sponsor of the event, CleanTechies truly believes this is an opportunity to set foot into our future.

Please visit the CleanTechies Event Calendar for more events and conferences near you!