Consert, a smart grid technology provider,
announced that Constellation Energy, GE Energy Financial Services, Qualcomm, Verizon Ventures and private investors have invested $17.7 million to fund strategic marketing, North American sales and ongoing enhancements of Consert's advanced smart grid software.
Currently Consert provides municipal and cooperative electric utilities in North Carolina and Texas with a reliable, flexible and economical form of green operating reserves and energy management. Consert enables consumers to manage their energy usage without compromising control, comfort or convenience through secure online energy profiles and home devices, according to company officials.
Consert's energy conservation strategies address utilities' issues such as capacity, transmission, renewable portfolio standards and power variability from intermittent generation. It has the ability to solve energy issues quickly and cost-effectively and also offers advanced ancillary services such as wind and solar regulation.
'Demand side resources must be as reliable as generation assets to meet capacity obligations in today's marketplace,' Kathi Hyle, COO, Constellation Energy Resources and senior vice president, Constellation Energy, said. 'The Consert solution meets this test and could benefit utilities, municipals and cooperatives nationwide.'
Consert is creating a Virtual Peak Plant that can defer or replace the need for additional conventional power plants at a cost that is 70 to 80 percent less than the current capital cost of a new gas-fired peak plant with an equivalent operating cost that is 60 percent less.
Verizon Wireless' network enables and manages Consert's machine-to-machine or "M2M" communications. This allows Consert to report real-time, empirical data to achieve an integrated consumer-to-grid solution with additional smart grid features including demand management, advanced metering infrastructure and a Home Area Network.
Tom Darden, a renowned green investor and Consert director who focuses on financial, environmental and social returns, indicated that the Consert Solution is future-proofed for development in a world of carbon measurement.
Consert's technology is designed without private protocols. Its technology is built on IBM enterprise software and works with standards-based hardware, communications suppliers and solution integrators promoting free-market competition.
According to Consert, intelligent energy management provides the most reliable, flexible and economical source of green energy. Consert's software-as-a-service or "SaaS" system empowers consumers to monitor and reduce their energy consumption helping them save money and the environment, while granting utilities permission to adjust consumer loads and obtain real-time data.
Jack Roberts, CEO and president of Consert, says the new group of investors advances Consert's vision of creating an integrated green energy solution with smart infrastructure, real-time communications, and intelligent in-home devices.
In February Consert
announced partnership with
International Affairs Council of North Carolina or "IAC," a nonprofit organization committed to increasing global understanding by arranging visits for distinguished international visitors to meet with their American professional counterparts, to host Canadian representatives participating in the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program or "IVLP."
Edited by
Juliana Kenny
