June 29, 2009

GridPoint acquires Lixar's energy business

GridPoint announced that it has acquired Lixar’s energy business, an Ottawa company providing energy management solutions that offer sophisticated user interfaces and support multiple communications protocols and devices. The acquisition enables GridPoint to enhance its enterprise-class software and establish a Canadian presence.

“We welcome Lixar’s talented software developers, whose work has been very well-received by the market, and look forward to collaborating to serve the needs of our utility customers,” said Peter L. Corsell, CEO, GridPoint.

Lixar’s energy efficiency and load management solutions easily integrate with a utility’s grid management systems and support a number of protocols, including INSTEON, Modbus, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave and X10, to control a wide variety of home automation and customer premise devices.

“We are delighted to join the team and believe we have a perfect fit of product and culture,” said Richard Oh, Managing Partner, Lixar.

Lixar provides utilities and their customers with highly sophisticated and flexible user interfaces that can be easily customized to meet the individual needs of both the utility and end user. The interface’s online personality helps educate and guide users via voice and text about how to use the system and achieve their energy goals and also facilitates communication with the utility. Other unique features include the ability to update energy profiles and control real-time events through smart phones, including iPhone and BlackBerry devices. Additionally, conservation tips and energy efficiency advice are provided via streaming video to help the consumer manage energy use.

Lixar also offers a transformer monitoring solution that monitors temperature, voltage, power and current and provides data-rich reporting about location and status. It alerts both the utility and its customer to a problem and automatically takes action, such as disabling the transformer to prevent damage, based on pre-programmed rules.

“Lixar’s software will enable GridPoint to integrate enhanced features into our platform, in addition to offering solutions to the Canadian market,” said Michael J. Carlson, who leads GridPoint’s Smart Grid Operations and its new Ottawa offices.

GridPoint recently released GridPoint Platform 3.0 and announced that Hometown Connections, the utility services subsidiary of the American Public Power Association (APPA), selected GridPoint as its exclusive smart grid software platform provider to public power companies. GridPoint also intends to continue many of the IP equipment and system integrator partnerships that have been developed by Lixar to distribute its technology throughout North America.

“GridPoint is a truly visionary company and is poised to become the leader in the smart grid software space,” said Bill Syrros, CEO, Lixar.

GridPoint Platform 3.0, a standards-based open platform, allows utilities to progressively integrate and customize smart grid solutions, including energy efficiency, load management, renewable integration, storage management and electric vehicle management. The platform delivers these solutions through the integration of distributed energy resources, including plug-in electric vehicles, solar panels, advanced storage technologies, and household devices such as thermostats, electric water heaters and pool pumps.
 

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