News / Events
Power Tagging Expands Management Team with Key Utility Industry Executive
Bernheim joins Power Tagging as Smart Grid Solutions Take Shape
BOULDER, CO – August 9, 2010– Power Tagging, the leader in grid resident communications for the next generation of the smart grid, announced that it has appointed Rick F. Bernheim as the Vice President of Engineering and Operations. Mr. Bernheim joins at an exciting time that represents an inflection point for Power Tagging as it meets a rapidly growing demand for its offerings that benefit electric utilities as well as consumers.
“Rick’s leadership and track record of taking multiple start-ups through successful exits as well as his Utility industry experience, further strengthens our Power Tagging team,” said Power Tagging CEO John LoPorto. “We are energized to have Rick onboard as we continue to deliver smart grid communications and applications to electric utilities.”
Previously, Bernheim served as the Vice President of Research and Development for JDSU CommTest, and General Manager of JDSU’s Cable Television Network Division. Prior to JDSU, Bernheim served as the Chief Operating Officer at SmartSynch, Inc., recently ranked as a top Smart Grid Company to Watch by Smart Grid News. Bernheim also served as Vice President of Engineering at Harris Communications Corporation within the Microwave Communications Division, where he lead an internationally based organization of 185 engineers with an operating budget of $26 million. As the Vice President of Engineering at Wavtrace, Inc., he contributed to the company’s turn-around and rapid increased valuation leading to its acquisition by Harris in 2000. Bernheim has also held various management positions at France Telecom, Comstream, GE, RCA, Cylix Communications, Transworld X-ray Corporation, and Philips Medical Instruments.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with such a game changing offering,” said Bernheim, “Power Tagging technology has the unique ability to transform the electrical grid as we know it today. Simple, effective communications that are cost effective provide true value to utility providers.”
About Power Tagging
Power Tagging is the leader in next generation smart grid communications for the 21st century. Power Tagging’s rapidly growing team is focused on delivering excellent solutions that fundamentally transform what is expected from the power grid. Power Tagging leverages its patent-pending technology for digitally “tagging” electric power and attached devices to drive solutions in grid mapping, fault resolution, electric vehicle integration, demand side management and Conservation Voltage Regulation. By working with utilities, the stewards of the power grid, Power Tagging solutions are ready for immediate adoption and maximal impact.
Strategies for Incorporating EVs into Transportation Infrastructures
On August 1-3 Pacific Intermountain Parking and Transportation Association (PIPTA) congregated in Boulder, CO to discuss and foster the growth and development of the parking industry. Power Tagging was in attendance presenting how electric vehicles will be integrated and managed as the next generation of vehicles penetrate the consumer market.
Presentation: Monday, August 2, 2010: Focus on the technology and infrastructure required for future parking and refueling strategies as electric vehicles hit the consumer market. Topics include future strategies toward connecting EVs to the current electric grid; strategic solutions to charging EVs when using public parking infrastructure; and simplified billing modes for charging EVs as they integrate with utilities, consumers and municipalities.
Read more about PIPTA here…
… Energy magnate Dominion Resources (NYSE: D) completely validated the smart grid when it took a stake in Power Tagging Technologies. Dominion said its new friend has “the technology that will play a key role in transforming infrastructure into a truly smart grid.” ….
» Full Article Here
… Perhaps the best chance for the Front Range to build the hub of a national economic sector is in the burgeoning field of alternative and clean energies, an industry with a strong presence in eco-friendly Boulder.
“There’s really no reason Colorado shouldn’t become the Silicon Valley of clean energy,” said John LoPorto, chief executive of Boulder-based Power Tagging, which is developing “digital tags” to track and record information traveling over power lines. “I don’t know that there are any natural limits.”
Most successful Boulder and Colorado tech companies in the past were engineering-oriented and ultimately succumbed to larger competitors on the coasts, but clean tech is wide open, LoPorto said. The presence of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden and its National Wind Technology Center south of Boulder are major advantages, he said.
“I think you may see a reversal of fortunes,” he said. “We will see Colorado companies making the acquisitions, and the headquarters will be here.” ….
Full Article Link
Smart-Grid Technology
By Lyla D. Hamilton
In 2009, shortly after Power Tagging Technologies Inc. emerged from stealth mode, CEO John LoPorto presented the company’s smart-grid solution at an industry conference.
Before he could return to his seat, a utility company executive intercepted him. Draping an arm around LoPorto’s shoulder, he drawled, “You boys gonna need some money? Let me buy you a drink.” Since then, Dominion Resources of Richmond, Va., among the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, has invested $3 million in the fledgling company.
“We want to get out in front of these companies before they invest in unnecessary fiber-optic cable and cellular towers,” LoPorto said. “We have faster, better solutions, and the capital investment is orders of magnitude lower.”
The new technology incorporates Power Tagging Modules, small digital signal processing systems attached to the grid, plus power amplifiers and coupling subsystems. Tagging gives a unit of energy an encrypted digital fingerprint.
Until the inception of this technology, LoPorto said, “Utility companies couldn’t tell one unit of energy from another.” They can now identify the power a particular device consumes, produces or conducts. It’s possible, for example, to determine whether the energy comes from coal, solar or wind. That supports auditing of cap-and-trade programs and renewable energy credits.
» Link to Full Article
Power Tagging’s CEO John LoPorto speaks at BCBR’s Green Summit as a part of “Smart Grids, What’s New” Forum. The presentation specifically focused on the smart grid technologies and innovations that will be available in the near future. More details here.
John LoPorto presents on SmartGrid 2.0: Grid Integrated Communications.
More details here.
At the Smart Grid Road Show in Cinncinati, Power Tagging CTO Stan McClellan sits down with Dominion Power’s Director of Conservation and Load Management, Phil Powell, to discuss Power Tagging’s unique and revolutionary approach to substation automation.
Session 306 titled Advanced System Management - A New Approach to Substation Automation. See Agenda Here.
The Investment Validates Power Tagging’s Progressive and Proven Solutions to Smart Grid Challenges.
Boulder, CO—January 19, 2010— Power Tagging, a leading provider of next generation smart grid communications technologies, today announced that it has closed its first round of outside funding. On the heels of the company’s first commercial pilot deployment and a National Science Foundation grant, Dominion Resources (NYSE: D), a leading energy provider has led the financing round. The driving force for the Dominion Resources investment in Power Tagging is the ability to deliver intelligence to the grid in a proven, cost-effective and readily deployable manner. Power Tagging’s technology can enable smart grids at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies. To date, Power Tagging’s self-funded development along with the new investment launches the company to its next stage of growth.
In addition to the investment aspect of the partnership, Dominion and Power Tagging will also work together on commercial deployments in areas such as real-time grid mapping, fault isolation, electric vehicle integration and grid cyber security. Cooperative development of applications means that customer needs are prioritized while the stability of utility operations are addressed and enhanced.
“Dominion is excited to support and partner with Power Tagging,” said Mary C. Doswell, senior vice president-Alternative Energy Solutions for Dominion. “We see this as the technology that will play a key role in transforming infrastructure into a truly smart grid.”
“We’re excited to be working with Dominion,” said John LoPorto, Power Tagging president and CEO. Smart grid companies must develop reliable products in concert with forward-looking utility partners that work to meet the needs of the grid for the next century.”
In the Smart Grid of the future, electric power will be measurable, traceable, and auditable much like data is on the Internet today. To enable this futuristic vision, Power Tagging has created a revolutionary technology that enables encrypted digital “tags” to be attached to grid-resident devices. These Power Tags can also be used to identify the power these grid-resident devices consume, produce, or conduct. For the first time, the grid, and even the power itself, has embedded intelligence.
Grid Location Aware™
Power Tags make the power grid “Grid Location Aware™”. This awareness is linked to each device’s real-time schematic location on the grid. Grid Location Awareness produces many benefits for Smart Grid systems, and many of these benefits are impossible to achieve with previous approaches to Smart Grid deployments. The economic and technological breakthroughs that Power Tagging has developed address all these issues and more. To learn more about the Power Tagging solutions visit www.powertagging.com.
About Power Tagging
Power Tagging is the leader in next generation smart grid communications for the 21st century. Power Tagging’s rapidly growing team is focused on delivering excellent solutions that fundamentally transform what is expected from the power grid. Power Tagging leverages its patent-pending technology for digitally “tagging” electric power and attached devices to drive solutions in grid mapping, fault isolation, electric vehicle integration, demand side management and grid cyber security. By working with utilities, the stewards of the power grid, Power Tagging solutions are ready for immediate adoption and maximal impact.
About Dominion
Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,500 megawatts of generation, 1.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas and oil reserves, 14,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline and 6,000 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates the nation’s largest natural gas storage facility with 975 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. Its corporate headquarters are in Richmond, Va. For additional information about Dominion, please visit www.dom.com
Power Tagging Announces National Science Foundation Grant. Download Press Release here.
