ENER-G has acquired the business assets of SmartHome Controls (SHC), which designs, manufactures, installs, and maintains intelligent heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting control systems that advance energy efficiency in high-end residential properties. ENER-G Controls already designs and manufactures the management systems that form the foundation of SHC’s residential automation operations.

Elster, one of the largest water, electricity, gas measurement and control providers globally, will introduce advanced C&I water metering technology in China, in a joint venture with Jiangxi Sanchuan Water Meter Company Limited, one of China’s leading water metering companies. China is the largest water meter market in the world in terms of units. Elster will produce and supply C&I water meters and will have a 55% share in the joint venture.

Southern California Edison (SCE) has begun deploying smart meters in the high desert region that includes Barstow, Victorville and Wrightwood. It is the latest phase in the utility’s roll out. The first smart meter deployment as part of Edison’ SmartConnect program was occurred in September 2009 in the city of Downey. The installations are scheduled to continue through 2012 and will cover approximately five million SCE residential and small-business customers. So far, SCE has installed approximately 1.9 million smart meters in its 50,000-square-mile service territory.

The California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) has thwarted the City and County of San Francisco’s (CCSF) attempt to prevent Pacific Gas and Electric Company from installing smart meters in the utility’s service area.  The Commission found, “The petition fails to present new facts that justify the request to suspend Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) program to install SmartMeters. In particular, there are no facts that show that the SmartMeters are less accurate than current meters or that the billing system is now generating fewer accurate bills.”

While the recent white paper produced by the General Electric Company, seeking to compare the power efficiency of Zigbee and Wi-Fi technology in its application to Smart Grid use, is a positive step towards the supply of efficient and green energy, the report contains serious flaws.

The “Energy Efficiency Comparisons of Wireless Communication Technology Options for Smart Grid Enabled Devices” report was recently released by General Electric Company and compares the power efficiency of Wi-Fi and ZigBee technologies in home Smart Grid applications. The report is flawed, which makes the results inaccurate.

It seems that Bob Dylan was right; the answer to our future energy needs may well be blowing in the wind!  Technology to harvest wind power has been around for a long time and the modern wind turbine is one of the first renewable energy generation techniques to become established.  Westar Energy is a US based energy company who are committed to supply customers with ‘affordable, reliable energy’ at a minimal cost to the environment.

Google PowerMeter has added connectivity to Blue Line Innovations’ PowerCost Monitor, which provides energy information so consumer can track their power usage online from wherever they are in the world. Google PowerMeter features include predicting costs, budget tracking, and community sharing.

Gentrack, a leader in developing software solutions for energy, water and airport utility companies, has started deploying its specialist meter data management (MDM) system mDATA21 to Horizon Power in Western Australia. Gentrack’s MDM solution will allow Horizon Power to stop relying on getting data from the HUB system of Western Power, as it will be able to collect, validate and share large volumes of meter data with its retail business. mDATA21 is fully integrated with Horizon Power’s present Gentrack Velocity billing and CRM system which was implemented in 2009 in a project considered a stunning success by Horizon Power’s Managing Director Rod Hayes.

Ericsson will serve as the prime integrator for the initial phase of Hydro-Québec’s smart metering pilot project and as project manager for the Meter Data Management System (MDMS) solution. Hydro-Québec, one of the largest electric utilities in North America, is installing a MDMS solution in preparation for the remote meter reading project. Remote meter readings of smart meters and MDMS solutions enables utilities to more effectively manage the measurement process.