In response to Superstorm Sandy in 2012, New York City began moving toward updating its grid to a more advanced, resilient system. Last year, we published a post from Lockheed Martin describing their microgrid systems, which provide reliable energy solutions for customers like the U.S. military.

This week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that Smarter Grid Solutions won a contract to work with Con Edison and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop technologies that will increase resilience against similar weather-related disasters while also allowing greater integration of distributed generation resources.  

“We bring a great deal of experience in the creation and management of smart grids to New York’s developing smart grid and microgrid activities,” said Dr. Bob Currie, CTO of Smarter Grid Solutions. “Our Active Network Management approach has been deployed extensively in Europe, allowing power companies and utilities to create more resilient and cost effective power grids in challenging conditions.”

Gov. Cuomo also announced this week that the state’s new “green bank” is open for business. Originally announced in September, the New York Green Bank “will be the catalyst for significantly accelerating the flow of private capital to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects,” said Cuomo. “[It] will send a message to the financial markets that expanding our clean energy economy is a priority for New York State.” Read more about this innovative financing mechanism here.

Also this week, AEE member EnerNOC announced a strategic investment in Genability, a software firm known for its solar analysis tools. Genability’s solar product, called Switch, allows customers to accurately assess savings from rooftop solar panels by incorporating specific rate information. Under an exclusive licensing arrangement, the demand response and energy efficiency company will gain additional analytics capabilities, thanks to Genability’s tariff tool.

“Connecting energy efficiency measures to dollars is what drives organizational change and justifies future investments in energy efficiency projects, but with thousands of different utility tariffs in the U.S. alone, giving customer-specific projections can be a challenge, particularly for enterprise customers that could have dozens or even hundreds of sites,” Micah Remley, VP of product strategy and technology at EnerNOC, said in a statement.

At the same time, Genability will gain a “strategic partner” who will help the company deliver the benefits of its software solutions to more commercial clients, said Genability CEO Jason Riley. “They have some really interesting stuff they want to do with real-time demand management, above and beyond what they do right now with demand response.”

Another AEE Member, Opower, has quietly filed paperwork for an IPO. Opower, which was founded in 2007 by Alex Laskey and Dan Yates, uses behavioral energy efficiency to encourage energy savings. The company works with utilities to use data and analytics to reduce consumer energy consumption. So far, Opower has reduced energy use by 3.7 billion kilowatt hours, and its products are delivered to 22 million homes, according to the company. See all AEE Members here.

Here at AEE, we are getting ready to release the Advanced Energy Now 2014 Market Report next Wednesday, and we need your help to get the word out. We are embarking on a coordinated, industry-based social media campaign to make sure everybody gets the word about the economic potential of a better energy future. Click below to sign up! Click here to read Economics of Advanced Energy, last year’s groundbreaking report.