9 Smart Grid Stock Investments

Here are 9 ways to play the fast-growing smart electricity grid sector:


Cisco (CSCO) - Cisco is known for it's internet router and network business, and it is estimated by CSCO that smart grid technology and systems may be worth up to $20 billion a year for 5 years for the industry.

ComVerge (COMV) - Comverge, Inc. is a clean energy company providing electricity demand management solutions in the form of peaking and base load capacity to electric utilities, grid operators and related electricity markets.

Echelon Corporation (ELON) - Echelon Corporation develops, markets, and sells system and network infrastructure products that enable various devices, such as air conditioners, appliances, electricity meters, light switches, thermostats, and valves to be made smart and inter-connected.

EnerNOC (ENOC) - EnerNOC designs and implements response solutions for electricity grid operators and electric utilities.

Itron Inc (ITRI) - provides a portfolio of products and services to utilities for the energy and water markets throughout the world. The Company is a provider of metering, data collection and software, which alerts people to their energy consumption changes.

RuggedCom (RUGGF.PK) - RuggedCom designs communication applications for rugged and remote environments such as electric utility substations. This communication equipment embedded at various points of the grid is also critical in building a smart transmission and distribution system.


Utilities

Consolidated Edison (ConEd), has put in for $172 million in stimulus funds under the government's Smart Grid Investment Grant Program. ConEd (NYSE:ED) is expected to ask for another $33 million by September, and it has a pilot program ready to go in Queens.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) has a billion-buck smart grid plan for Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. In August, Duke applied for $200 million from Washington to nudge its new meter installations forward in those states. In Ohio, the company wants to convert 600,000 homes to smart metering by 2012. Duke's going even bigger in Indiana, where 800,000 is the target.

National Grid (NYSE:NGG) is headquartered in the United Kingdom, but their focus is Washington and the USA. National Grid has applied for $200 million in federal stimulus to expand its knowledge systems in both electricity conservation systems and natural gas metering.