Networked Energy Services Corporation breaks into the Global Smart Grid Market with the Industry’s leading 3-Tier Platform

The new company is a result of the spin-out of Echelon’s Grid Modernization Division; NES handles millions of smart grid transactions each day for the world’s leading utilities

The former “Grid Modernization Division” of Echelon Corporation has become an independent company, Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES), focused on enabling the smart grid with a proven, open, multi-application platform. S&T AG, one of the largest IT system houses in Austria and in Eastern Europe and also a leading systems integrator in the smart energy sector, holds a 45% stake in the new company, and Cedrus Enterprises also owns a position in NES. In addition to enhancing its product portfolio and growing its customer base, Networked Energy Services Corporation, with the assets of S&T and its other global partners, is looking to extend its value proposition and presence at its existing utility customers with more than 4 million smart devices managed by its proven, scalable and secure NES platform. NES Corporation, one of the world’s leading smart energy companies, maintains its primary R&D facility in Silicon Valley (CA) with an additional application and software innovation center in Fargo (ND) along with sales and support offices throughout the world.

NES Corporation develops and delivers its grid transaction management and analytics software based on industry open standards and its complementary smart grid devices based on OSGP (“Open Smart Grid Protocol”). Together, this 3 tier platform is designed to help utilities around the world modernize their distribution grids and achieve higher levels of safety, reliability and efficiency. Millions of these products have been installed and are operating successfully at market leading utilities around the world. Customers include E.ON, Fortum, SEAS, Vattenfall, Duke Energy and many other notable industry players. NES' business focus is the development and sale of its NES system, which includes utility data center software, field distributed application nodes and OSGP compliant devices used for grid applications like advanced or smart metering, load control, transformer monitoring and grid data collection. NES sells its products through worldwide Value Added Resellers (VARs) which includes market leaders like Schneider Electric, LG CNS and Mitsubishi Electric. The company is one of the world's leaders in helping its customers transform conventional power grids into intelligently-operating “smart” ones. These smart grids feature the ability to dynamically manage the distribution grid – enabled by both software and hardware components – to achieve new levels of service and reliability and to enable consumers to become active participants in energy conservation. These features increase the efficiency of networks, and give rise to new services and models to enable new revenue streams for the utility and convenience for the consumer. Such grids will also expedite the expansion of sustainable energy-based grids and enable consumers to become active participants in energy conservation.

“This change will allow us to devote 100% of our resources to enhance our existing solution platform and grow through the sale of smart grid applications”, said Michael Anderson, CEO of NES. “Our OSGP based solution is gaining significant momentum within the industry, our customers are hungry for our new applications suite and the synergies associated with our VAR partners like LG CNS, S&T and Schneider will enrich our ability to provide value to our existing and future customers.”

Overall, the industry seems very favorable to the new company, its 100% focus on the smart grid and the backing from its new owners.

Bo Danielsen, Chairman of the OSGP Alliance and Department Director at SEAS-NVE, said “As Chairman of the OSGP Alliance, we are very pleased to see our most senior and active member launch as an independent company solely focused on building solutions to move the industry forward. As a customer, I am very pleased and excited about the solution roadmap and look forward to working with this proven team of industry recognized professionals.”

“Acquiring Echelon’s grid business means an important expansion of our Smart Energy capabilities, further demonstrating our commitment to the smart energy market and our belief in the smart grid opportunity!,” said Hannes Niederhauser, CEO of S&T. “Utilities favor end-to-end offerings from proven vendors with the experience, assets and people required to successfully deliver grid modernization solutions. We look forward to combining the NES platform offerings with S&T’s software, system integration and project delivery capabilities, to serve smart energy customers throughout Europe and beyond.”

The modernization of the electrical grid is a global imperative in order to meet rising demands, ensure reliability and safety and obtain long term efficiencies to achieve global resource and environmental responsibility. Networked Energy Services Corporation’s vision is to help usher in this new era of grid safety, reliability and efficiency with its 3 tier, proven, open, multi-application platform.

About Networked Energy Services Corporation (NES)
Networked Energy Services Corporation (www.networkedenergy.com) is a global smart energy leader in the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network, enabling utilities to connect to their customers, offer new services and help them compete more effectively, through solutions which can help reduce operating costs, provide expanded services and help energy end users to become active participants in energy conservation. The company was formed as a result of the spinoff of Echelon Corporation’s Grid Modernization Division in October 2014. NES has its headquarters in the US, with design and R&D Centers located in Silicon Valley, CA, and Fargo, ND, and sales offices throughout the world. Networked Energy Services' solution, based on Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP), is used in more than 4 million smart end points by utilities around the world. You can find out more information about NES and its products, including smart meters, data concentrator nodes, and head-end software, at http://www.networkedenergy.com.

About S&T AG
S&T AG (www.snt.at, ISIN AT0000A0E9W5, WKN A0X9EJ, SANT) is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company has some 2,100 employees. It operates in 20 countries. S&T is one of the three largest suppliers of IT systems in Austria and in Eastern Europe. S&T's prime assets include the breadth of the products – many proprietorially developed - comprising its portfolio. These products are used in the smart energy, cloud, security and mobile IT sectors. The portfolio is distributed throughout Central and Eastern Europe. S&T launched its “smart energy” business area in 2014. This area now comprises NES (www.networkedenergy.com), the Austria-based Ubitronix GmbH (www.ubitronix.at) and the Group subsidiary RTSoft (www.rtsoft.ru/en). These companies provide S&T with an unsurpassed portfolio of smart energy technologies. This portfolio enables S&T to offer comprehensive, end-to-end solutions in this area.

About Cedrus Enterprises Holding
Cedrus Enterprises Holding (www.cedrus.net) is a privately held dynamic multi-faceted Lebanese Holding company. Through its diverse portfolio of businesses, the group covers a wide and variable spectrum of business and technical consulting services, with particular emphasis on the energy sector as an area of strategic importance. Cedrus’s long-range investment strategy includes greater focus on areas related to the power generation, distribution and management and operation of utilities sector, the provision of smart grid solutions and AMI, and high technology (ICT, ISP, Smart Housing Solutions, Software and Telecommunications). Cedrus is also currently involved in arranging contracting services (Infrastructure, Commercial & Residential), Electromechanical Products & Solutions, Facility Maintenance and Cleaning Services, Defense and Security (specialized training and equipment), Transportation (airport ground-handling and management), and hospitality (hotels, restaurants, franchising and catering).