ZigBee Alliance Members Awarded Nearly $500 Million From U.S. Smart Grid Grants

Funds expected to spur more ZigBee Smart Energy implementations

SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee® Alliance, a global
ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy
management, commercial and consumer applications, congratulates its members
who were selected to receive funding for their Smart Grid efforts as part of
the United States American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. ZigBee Alliance
members received a total of $478,823,415, representing a total investment of
more than $1.2 billion in smart grid programs with ZigBee Smart Energy as the
standard for home area networks.

Individual ZigBee members received between $4 million and $200 million dollars
for their Smart Grid projects. Members earning grants include: CenterPoint
Energy, Baltimore Gas and Electric, Reliant Energy Retail Services, San Diego
Gas and Electric, Honeywell International and Whirlpool. Grants were awarded
for a variety of ZigBee Smart Energy products and services, including large
smart meter programs covering 4.7 million meters, installation of a variety of
devices such as programmable communicating thermostats, in-home displays and
load controllers, plus expediting the development of smart appliances.

ZigBee Smart Energy enables wireless communication between utility companies
and everyday household devices such as smart thermostats and appliances. It
is the underlying technology providing consumers with dynamic pricing
information as well as programming control over smart appliances. This
control allows consumers to manage their power use and how much they spend on
energy while participating in demand response programs designed to help
utilities manage generation needs during peak power periods.

The ZigBee 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 for the Smart Grid.

"ZigBee Alliance members have been taking an active role in developing the
Smart Grid for years and these grants are recognition for our members'
leadership on this important initiative," said Bob Heile, chairman of the
ZigBee Alliance. "With ZigBee Smart Energy's position in the marketplace and
its role as an initial interoperable standard by NIST for the critical home
area network piece of the Smart Grid, we expect that those utilities and
product manufacturers sitting on the sidelines will adopt ZigBee."

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.

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance

Kevin Schader of ZigBee Alliance, +1-925-275-6672, kschader@inventures.com; or
Earlene Tang of GolinHarris +1-714-662-5115, etang@golinharris.com, for ZigBee
Alliance