Written by Katie Fehrenbacher
The big news this week for Google, and anyone interested in smart meters and energy management, is that the company has partnered with utilities like San Diego Gas & Electric and meter maker Itron for its online energy management tool PowerMeter. But according to SmartGridToday, Itron and SDG&E have also been working with Microsoft on web-based energy data tools.
SmartGridToday quotes Philip Mezey, COO of the North American division of Itron, as saying that Itron is working with Microsoft to develop “portlets,” or web applications for energy consumers. In San Diego, Itron is providing a “mass-market, customer-care product built on Microsoft technology” so that SDG&E customers can “see all of this energy information” on an SDG&E customer web site. Mezey tells SmartGridToday that the Google and Microsoft partnerships aren’t related.
