GridPoint Inc., a clean tech company developing a smart grid platform for electric utilities announced the appointment of several high-profile individuals to its advisory board and $15 million in funding by the Quercus Trust.
Those named include Robert N. Danziger, founder of Sunlaw Energy Corp.; Paul J. Feldman, chairman of the Midwest Independent System Operator; T.J. Glauthier, former Deputy Secretary of Energy; R. James Woolsey, former director of the CIA; and Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Yergin.
Since the company’s inception in November 2003, GridPoint has raised $102 million in equity capital. G
GridPoint’s board also includes former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, renowned futurist Esther Dyson, internationally recognized energy and environmental leader David J. Jhirad, and former EPA official and former Alliance to Save Energy President William A. Nitze.
GridPoint’s smart grid platform applies information technology to the electric grid to provide utilities with an intelligent network of distributed resources (e.g., advanced load control devices, batteries, solar systems) that reside at the point of consumption–the home or business.
Additionally, the platform’s modular, scaleable and upgradeable architecture enables utilities to create a practical path for integrating new clean technologies (e.g., plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cells).
During peak demand periods, the platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by discharging stored power or reducing loads with minimal impact on customers (i.e., controlling temperature versus shutting down air conditioners), according to Gridpoint.
The platform serves as a virtual peaking power plant, enabling utilities to avoid the regulatory, environmental and "time-to-build" hurdles associated with building centralized plants while fueling the mass adoption of renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions and conserving fuel, capital and land resources.
For consumers, GridPoint’s platform provides protection from power outages, increases energy efficiency through online energy management and integrates utility-controlled renewable energy systems, paving the way for the commercial success of residential and light commercial solar and wind energy sources.
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