Forum brings together leading technology and
innovation companies from Silver Spring Networks, Oracle, NestLabs,
Home Depot, GE Energy, and the Energy Foundry and representatives
from the City of Chicago, Citizens Utility Board and Smart Grid
Consumer Collaborative
ComEd, in partnership with Silver Spring Networks (NYSE: SSNI)
and Accenture, hosted its SmartGridExchange℠ Forum, bringing
together leading technology and innovation companies, including
Oracle, NestLabs, Home Depot, GE Energy, and the Energy Foundry,
with other customer and stakeholder organizations, including the
City of Chicago, Citizens Utility Board and Smart Grid Consumer
Collaborative, to discuss how to leverage the smart grid to deliver
increased value to consumers.
The forum was held on Sept. 5 at the University of Chicago
School of Business, Gleacher Center, and served as the kick-off to
ComEd’s SmartGridExchange, a collaborative initiative between
ComEd, technology companies, universities and customers to spur
innovation that will shape what the electric grid of the future
will offer.
“The SmartGridExchange represents a deliberate effort to
co-design a smart energy future with our customers and with the
businesses that we’re counting on to bring new value to those
customers,” said Val Jensen, senior vice president of Customer
Operations, ComEd. “The investment that we are making on behalf of
our customers in smart grid technology is a platform for product
and service innovation that will unlock value that we’re only
beginning to glimpse; the SmartGridExchange is the way we hope to
bring the best thinking to this challenge.”
Forum discussions highlighted the need to build a customer
energy ecosystem that will allow businesses to develop new energy
products and solutions, and allow utilities to enable this
innovation.
“Utilities are uniquely positioned to bring modern technologies
to their communities for economic growth, environmental
sustainability, and citizen empowerment opportunities,” said Scott
Lang, Chairman, President and CEO, Silver Spring Networks. “By
leveraging a standards-based multi-application network for their
smart grids, utilities can establish a territory-wide platform for
improved grid reliability, increased energy efficiency, and the
delivery of new services such as intelligent street lighting, smart
parking, and improved traffic and transportation systems over
time."
David Kolata, executive director of the Illinois Citizens
Utility Board added “The Smart Grid is an entrepreneurial vision,
where the utility facilitates rather than doing. We need to make
sure the utility is building a system that will allow entrepreneurs
to innovate to bring value to customers.”
Discussion topics also included, “Innovating the Infrastructure
to Support Customer-Side Innovation,” “Driving Customer Value
through Smart Meter Data,” “The Connected Home: Where the Smart
Meter Meets Customer-Side Innovation,” “Customer and Stakeholder
Perspectives,” and “Local Innovation,” where local tech incubators
and entrepreneurs representing Root3, the Energy Foundry and Blue
1647 discussed how they are supporting home-grown smart technology
innovations in Illinois to create a thriving community of
developers that can take Smart Grid technology and translate it
into useful tools customers can use.
“ComEd’s SmartGrid infrastructure serves as an innovation
platform for Root3 and other startup companies,” added Archie
Gupta, CEO of Root3. “As entrepreneurs, it is now our job to build
on this platform and bring new products and services to market for
customers.”
SmartGridExchange Forum presenters included:
Ed Abbo, president and chief technical officer, C3
Andrew Baynes, director of business development and
energy efficiency, NestLabs
Ty Benefiel, CEO, Meter Genius
Erik Birkerts, executive vice president and COO, Clean
Energy Trust
Jason Blumberg, CEO and managing director, Energy
Foundry
Emile Cambry, CEO, Blue 1647
Patty Durand, executive director, Smart Grid Consumer
Collaborative
Rodger E. Smith, executive vice president and general
manager, Oracle Utilities
Sonny Garg, senior vice president, chief innovation and
information officer, Exelon Corporation
Abhay Gupta, founder and CEO, Bidgely
Archie Gupta, CEO, Root3
Robert Kelter, senior attorney, ELPC
David Kolata, executive director, Citizens Utility
Board
Eric Krauss, director of IT product management,
Accenture
Scott Lang, chairman, president and CEO, Silver Spring
Networks
Randy Light, senior merchant, Home Depot
Yoav Lurie, CEO, Simple Energy
Naomi Manley-Casimir, director, Accenture Innovation
Centre for Utilities
John McDonald, director of Technical Strategy and Policy
Development, GE Energy
Timothy Porter, senior managing director, Accenture
Strategy
Timothy Porter, senior managing director, Accenture
Strategy
Bill Richardson, vice president of Marketing,
Rainforest
Joe Svachula, vice president of smart grid, ComEd
Karen Weigert, chief sustainability officer, City of
Chicago
According to ComEd, the SmartGridExchange is a long-term
initiative to create customer value using collaboration,
facilitation, enablement, information, internal development, and
delivery of new products and services. In addition to the Forum,
the SmartGridExchange includes additional initiatives, including a
ComEd-sponsored “Student Innovation Contest” and partnership with
Nest.
ComEd launched its “Student Innovation Contest” in May to
generate ideas from local college students for using smart meter
technology to reach low income customers. Forty-four student teams
submitted ideas and proposals to help low-income customers use
their home’s smart meter to manage their electric bills and save.
The top five will compete before industry leaders and entrepreneurs
at an award show in October for a share of $10,000 in prize
money.
In addition, more than 3,000 ComEd customers participated in its
pilot with the Nest this summer, where they received $140 in
rebates for purchasing a Nest Learning Thermostat™ and
participating in its demand response program. They also received a
$100 rebate from ComEd for signing up to participate in ComEd’s
Smart Ideas® AC Cycling Pilot that features Nest’s Rush Hour
Rewards™, and an additional $40 rebate for participating in the
pilot all summer.
Other elements of the SmartGridExchange will include
announcements later this fall of new smart meter-enabled products
and services available to ComEd customers.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive
energy provider, with approximately 6.6 million customers. ComEd
provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across
northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For
more information visit ComEd.com, and
connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
ComEd Media Relations(312) 394-3500www.ComEd.com/News
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