Leading smart grid and internet connectivity companies join U-SNAP alliance

Morgan Hill, CA. (September 10, 2009) - The U-SNAP Alliance, formed by a group of utility industry leaders to create a low cost connector standard to enable consumer products to communicate with any vendor's smart meter, announced the formation of the alliance and first members to join the Alliance, bringing total membership to 19 companies.

U-SNAP (Utility Smart Network Access Port) Alliance addresses a key portion of the Smart Grid, the home area network (HAN), where consumer appliances and other energy aware devices talk to smart meters. As the Smart Grid and smart metering market grows, the development of an industry standard to enable plug and play connectivity between smart meters and home networks will be key to the creation and adoption of energy aware devices.

Members of the U-SNAP Alliance represent several key elements of the smart grid ecosystem, including utilities, product design and manufacturing, semiconductors, smart meters, software, thermostats, and in-home displays.

Founding members leading the Alliance at the Promoter level and as members of the Board of Directors are Radio Thermostat Company of America and Sensus. Contributor Members, consisting of product manufacturers, includes Comverge, eRadio, GainSpan, GE Consumer & Industrial, Intwine Connect, NURI Telecom Co., Ltd, Trilliant and ZeroG Wireless. Influencer Members, consisting of non-manufacturers, namely utilities, includes 4Home, Alliant Energy, Benton PUD, Celestica International, CLECO, LS Research, Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro, Portland General Electric and Our Home Spaces.

"I am quite pleased with the first wave of companies joining the U-SNAP Alliance," said Jon Rappaport, chairman of the U-SNAP Alliance. "Our rapidly growing membership represents an impressive mix of utilities and appliance manufacturers, and enabling technologies who understand the dynamics of the Home to Grid market and the need to enable connectivity between smart meters and consumer products."

"There is increasing activity around smart meters and several companies are actively developing U-SNAP compliant products based on the first U-SNAP specification, with the first products appearing on retail shelves later this year," said Tim Simon, U-SNAP Alliance vice chairman.

More information on U-SNAP Alliance membership, technical specifications, and activities can be found at http://www.usnap.org.