• The U.S. Department of Energy and the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) have announced a Critical Infrastructure Communications Policy Summit to be held on June 19, 2012, in Washington, DC. The Summit will focus on “aligning policies, technologies and communications networks that support integrating variable energy resources, optimizing the use of existing resources, supporting smart cities, and public safety communications to ensure the health, safety and welfare of Americans.” More information regarding the Summit is available here.
  • The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a new “Apps for Energy” competition in partnership with PG&E, Itron, and Gridwise Alliance. The competition challenges application developers to use the Green Button data access program to make residential and commercial utility data more accessible and useful to the consumer. As part of DOE’s smart grid initiative, the Green Button program seeks to make energy usage data available in a streamlined and easy-to-understand format. The developers who submit the best apps will win part of a $100,000 cash prize, and submissions are due tomorrow, May 15, 2012 by 8:00 pm EST. Winners will be announced May 22, 2012. The official rules and deadlines are available here. More information regarding the Green Button initiative is available here.