GE, Whirlpool and Others Launch Smart Green Grid Initiative Aimed at Including Smart Grid in Copenhagen Meetings

GE, Whirlpool and Others Launch Smart Green Grid Initiative Aimed at Including
Smart Grid in Copenhagen Meetings

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- GE, Whirlpool Corporation and a
number of other companies today announced the creation of a new collaborative
effort aimed at demonstrating the role of smart grid technologies and
practices in the achievement of climate change goals. Called the Smart Green
Grid Initiative (SGGI), the effort will include educational events at the
upcoming climate change meetings in Copenhagen. SGGI has been approved by the
United Nations to be an official smart grid delegation to the Copenhagen
meetings. SGGI will also be sponsoring educational events in the U.S. in the
weeks preceding the meetings in Copenhagen.

One of the groups that SGGI will work with in Copenhagen is the Pew Center
Global Climate Change. "It is important that we look at all of the options
that can help address and mitigate climate change," said Eileen Claussen,
President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change "and smart grid's role in
enabling energy efficiency and other climate-friendly technologies deserves
greater attention. We look forward to participating in an SGGI side event in
Copenhagen that will help carry this message to the broader climate change
community."

"We need to help the world understand the real potential for Smart Grid
technologies to help slow climate change," said Bob Gilligan, vice president
of GE Energy's Transmission and Distribution business. "Smart Grid solutions
are often viewed primarily for their efficiency and cost savings, but every
kilowatt saved is also a carbon savings. Add the potential carbon benefits we
get through easier integration of more renewable energy, like wind and solar,
and the Smart Grid can have a major effect on the carbon impact of our energy
infrastructure."

"We launch this effort today to try to illustrate the relationship between a
smart grid with smart products and technologies, and the global effort to
mitigate climate change," said Jeff Noel, corporate vice president,
Communications and Public Affairs, Whirlpool Corporation. "Complementary
policies in these areas benefit consumers, create jobs, and reduce
environmental impact. Today, these two areas are for the most part in
different silos, and there is not enough awareness or understanding of how
important development of the smart grid can be to meeting climate change
goals."

SGGI will seek to help government, industry and policy makers see smart grid
technologies and practices within a larger perspective. For example, with a
key component of climate change policies being increased use of renewable
energy, SGGI will try to help parties understand and manage its variable and
intermittent nature. It will try to demonstrate that demand response and
energy storage solutions can dynamically complement renewable resources -- and
avoid the building of new fossil-fuel power plants to fill the availability
gaps and peak needs.

"Another important area is energy efficiency," said Dan Delurey, Chairman of
the Smart Green Grid Initiative. "Today, it is important to view energy
efficiency in a more holistic and dynamic way than in the past. New
technologies and applications mean that energy efficiency can mean more than
just replacing one device with a newer, more efficient one. It can include
providing new information to the consumer that they have simply never had
before. Research has shown that electricity customers with energy usage
information become more energy efficient overall -- by upwards of 15%. The
Smart Grid may help make energy efficiency sustainable and institutionalized
in business and society."

"This is also true with appliances," said Noel, of Whirlpool, and "we need to
not only make our appliances more efficient, but smarter." Jim Campbell,
President & CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial, the GE division innovating demand
response appliances, added "Smart appliances connected to the grid can
schedule energy intensive activities to take place during lower energy usage
periods like evenings and nights, when some renewable resources like wind are
more likely to be available."

Supporters of the Smart Green Grid Initiative include both Utilities and
Technology companies. Included in the group are National Grid, Southern
Company, AEP, Google, LG Electronics, Landis + Gyr, Echelon, Tendril, Ice
Energy, Enspiria, eMeter and Itron. In addition, the Demand Response and Smart
Grid Coalition and the Demand Response Coordinating Committee, the leading
groups in the U.S. focused on promoting the development of the Smart Grid and
smart grid practices like Demand Response, will be supporting SGGI.

As part of today's announcement, the Smart Green Grid Initiative said that
several webinars and a Capitol Hill Briefing will be held to begin the effort
to build awareness of the important intersection between the smart grid and
climate change. SGGI also said that a web site has been created at
www.smartgreengrid.org where information can be found about SGGI events as
well as how the Smart Grid can play a role in addressing climate change.

"We hope that other companies will join with us now and in Copenhagen in this
effort to demonstrate the importance of the Smart Grid in reducing emissions
and achieving climate change goals," said Delurey. "We look forward to working
with all parties and to being a source of information and expertise on the
role that Smart Grid can play".

About GE
GE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that it
built to meet essential world needs. GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of
the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery
technologies, with 2008 revenue of $29.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia,
GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil,
natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar
and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are
certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively
bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing
environmental challenges.

About Whirlpool Corporation
Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of
major home appliances, with annual sales of approximately $19 billion in 2008,
70,000 employees, and 67 manufacturing and technology research centers around
the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana,
Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and other major brand names to consumers in nearly
every country around the world. Additional information about the company can
be found at http://www.whirlpoolcorp.com

About Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition
The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) is the trade association
for companies that provide technologies, products and services in the areas of
demand response and smart grid. More information can be found at
www.drsgcoalition.org.

About Demand Response Coordinating Committee
The Demand Response Coordinating Committee (DRCC) is a non-profit organization
that focuses on developing and disseminating information about demand response
and facilitating the exchange of information and expertise within the demand
response community. More information can be found at
www.demandresponsecommittee.org. More information on the DRCC's National Town
Meeting on Demand Response and Smart Grid can be found at
www.smartgridtownmeeting.com.

SOURCE Smart Green Grid Initiative

Dan Delurey of Smart Green Grid Initiative, +1- 202-441-1420; Alison Eckelkamp
of GE, +1-678-844-6849; or Jill Saletta of Whirlpool, +1-269-923-5801