ZigBee(R), HomePlug(R) Alliances Previews Future Direction of Smart Energy HAN Standard

ZigBee(R), HomePlug(R) Alliances Previews Future Direction of Smart Energy HAN
Standard

Smart Energy is Key Smart Grid Standard and Champions Consumer Control

SAN RAMON, Calif. and PORTLAND, Ore., June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee(R)
Alliance and HomePlug(R) Powerline Alliance today announced public
availability of the next generation market requirements for Smart Energy, and
supporting use cases. Smart Energy enables both wired and wireless
communication between utility companies and everyday household devices such as
smart thermostats and appliances. Captured in the market requirements document
are details for the next generation of functionality envisioned for the Smart
Grid with accompanying consumer control. It includes insight to a variety of
use cases including plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging, installation,
configuration, firmware download for home area network (HAN) devices, prepay
services, user information and messaging, load control, demand response, and
common information and application profile interfaces for wired and wireless
HANs.

The Smart Energy market requirements document is available for review at
http://www.zigbee.org/smartenergy. It was jointly developed by ZigBee Alliance
members, HomePlug Powerline Alliance members, utilities, regulators, suppliers
and technology providers as a foundation for an enhanced ZigBee Smart Energy
profile and as the basis for global standards development by other
organizations. On May 18, the ZigBee/HomePlug Smart Energy profile was
selected by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) as an initial interoperable standard for HAN
devices and communications and information model.

The development of the Smart Energy profile drew upon the collective
experience of members involved in the current development and deployment of
the existing wireless ZigBee Smart Energy standard. Certified products and
services based on this standard are available for use today from a variety of
ZigBee members. The standard is supported by a comprehensive certification
process that delivers secure, robust, reliable, plug and play interoperability
with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Grid applications.

Chartwell's recent "Smart Metering Technology" report found that "...40
percent of electric utilities prefer ZigBee compared to other in-premise
standards." No other technology standard garnered such a large share of
preference. To date, ZigBee Smart Energy has been selected by leading
utilities to reach approximately 40 million homes and businesses across North
America in the next few years as part of ongoing Smart Grid and Advanced
Metering Infrastructure deployments. ZigBee Smart Energy has also been
selected as the HAN technology standard by utilities and regulatory agencies
in the European Union, Australia and Asia.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance is the leading industry group in the
development of multi-vendor, global standards and certification for powerline
communications. With more than 70 percent of the cumulative worldwide market
share (per recent reporting from In-Stat), HomePlug technology is rapidly
becoming a key element of the Smart Energy HAN and is already being integrated
into AMI applications by utilities and meter manufacturers in the U.S. and
Europe.

"We are sharing these new requirements as part of ZigBee's outreach to assist
the many Smart Grid standardization efforts underway around the world," said
Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "As a global and open standards
group, the ZigBee Alliance fully understands the benefits of cooperating and
lending our expertise to multitude of governmental and standards groups
involved in the development of Smart Grids. We hope this early visibility will
help those efforts."

"The Smart Energy market requirements document reflects the consensus of many
utility companies to maximize both the consumer benefits and ROI of the HAN
and Smart Grid," said Rob Ranck, HomePlug Alliance president. "This is another
benchmark in our key objective to collaborate with other organizations to make
the Smart Grid a reality."

ZigBee Smart Energy - The Standard for Energy Management and Efficiency
ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies
and common household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It
improves energy efficiency by allowing consumers to choose interoperable
products from different manufacturers giving them the means to manage their
energy consumption more precisely using automation and near real-time
information. It also helps utility companies implement new advanced metering
and demand response programs to drive greater energy management and
efficiency, while responding to changing government requirements.

ZigBee: Control your world
ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different
devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a
non-profit association of more than 300 member companies driving development
of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of
ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for
use in energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information,
visit: www.ZigBee.org.

About the HomePlug Powerline Alliance
Founded in 2000, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. is an industry-led
initiative with more than 70 member companies that creates specifications and
certification logo programs for using the powerlines for reliable home
networking and smart grid applications. The Alliance accelerates worldwide
adoption for HomePlug technology by collaborating with international standards
organizations such as IEEE and through market development and user education
programs. Sponsor members include Cisco (CSCO); Comcast (CMCSK); GE Energy, an
affiliate of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Gigle Semiconductor; Intellon
Corporation (ITLN); Intel Corporation (INTC); Motorola (MOT); NEC Electronics
Corporation (TSE: 6723); and SPiDCOM Technologies. Contributor members include
Arkados (OTCBB: AKDS); Corporate Systems Engineering; Renesas Technology
Corp., Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) and Yitran Communications
Ltd. Additional information about the Alliance, including a complete listing
of certified products, is available at www.homeplug.org.

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance

Kevin Schader, ZigBee Alliance, +1-925-275-6672, kschader@inventures.com;
Megan Novak Shockney, Ardell Group for HomePlug Powerline Alliance,
+1-858-792-2939, megan@ardellgroup.com