I love what Ohmconnect is doing. 

Ohmconnect pays you for participating in demand response events by selling your demand response action into the California energy market, and you get a part of the market price. As demand for electricity rises, a dirtier power plant will turn on to meet the growing electricity need, so demand response can prevent dirty plants from turning on. It's a win-win-win.

Sign up with my referral code OHM17582!

They also have this cool map which shows you which power plants are powering your home.

Last week, Young Professionals in Energy Bay Area hosted a wonderful panel on Building a Software Business in Smart Grid at Morrison & Foerster. 

The takeaways were:
1. Say no to VCs - since they'll be after you each quarter about performance 
2. Don't try and sell to utilities - Utilities are slow moving and dependent on the regulatory cycle.
3. IT will torpedo your idea - Convincing the IT department of any company is crucial.
4. Go overseas - Markets overseas can be more open to smart gird technology because electricity is more expensive or countries are building out their grid for the first time. 

Thank you to all the panelists and YPE for putting on the event. It was part of a 3-event series, so see you at the next one!