The smart grid has become a rapidly growing movement to design and implement the concept of an intelligent energy system that is more efficient, robust, flexible and sustainable.

Join our distinguished panel to gain a basic understanding of how the systems we use for electric energy generation, distribution and consumption are evolving to better meet the needs of society and entrepreneurial opportunities available.

Roger Hicks - What is the smart grid and why should we care? An introduction to the smart grid concept along with a summary of problems it will address and some business opportunity examples in the emerging clean energy marketplace.

John Thornton, VP Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Porteon Electric Vehicles Inc - Moving towards the intelligent convergence of vehicles, buildings and electric utilities. An overview of perspectives on the future of transportation and sustainability: electric vehicles (EVs) and the Smart Grid as enabling technologies.

Steve Jennings, Chief Marketing Officer, BPL Global - The Smart Grid: Today and Tomorrow. Learn where smart grid technology is today and a look at future opportunities. Also, BPL Global's role in enabling electricity grid intelligence to transform energy efficiency and reliability.

Cost: Online: Members - $15, Non-Members - $25 Onsite: $5 more

The idea of an intelligent electricity network is being promoted by many as a way of dealing with the increasing problems of global warming, energy independence and electric grid resilience. This so called “smart grid” will create opportunities for new technologies and businesses which will emerge to satisfy the demands for improved communications, smart appliances, distributed power generation, demand response, transportation electrification and many more applications.

To help entrepreneurs and innovators in the Portland area learn more about smart grid opportunities and collaborate with others the TiE Oregon is hosting an event with industry experts and capital providers who have an interest in growing smart grid businesses.

Panelists include:

• Bill Campbell Principal at Equilibrium Capital • Bobby Kandaswamy, Investment Director, Intel Capital • Jeff Hammarlund, Adjunct Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow at PSU's Mark O. Hatfield School of Government and the Executive Leadership Institute.

By attending this event you will hear about the policies shaping the smart grid movement, learn about various technology and application opportunities and meet others who are already working in the smart grid or have an idea that could turn into a new business.

Energy storage is increasingly perceived as a necessary and vital component of any future smart grid, yet meaningful energy storage is still a scarce and missing component.

Why is energy storage so important? - Energy storage helps solve the variability issues with renewable energy (solar and wind) generation, and as such will help balance the grid - Distributed energy storage located near the point of use will provide localized power, thereby decreasing the need to build new power plants and additional transmission lines. - Energy storage has been proclaimed by some as a "killer app" by utilizing batteries in parked electric vehicle (EV) fleets to feed stored energy back to the grid. Such Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) applications have promise to feed energy back to the grid for special purposes to benefit both the utility and the electric car owner. - Significant utility-scale storage capacity solves an even bigger issue, capturing and utilizing the massive amounts of electrical generating capacity that is otherwise typically unused.

The discussion will focus on: - Value chain elements of the energy storage industry - Who are local champions of energy storage - What are the interests of the investment community - What does the policy and regulatory framework look like - How do customers value energy storage - How is the smart grid expected to interact with energy storage

Join our panel on April 21st, to understand the technologies, trade-offs, market segments, future potential of energy storage.

Our 3 panelists are: - Dylan Steeg, Director Intel Capital, Intel's global venture capital organization. Dylan is responsible for several cleantech and semiconductor sectors, including photovoltaics, smart grid/demand response, datacenter energy efficiency, and semiconductor manufacturing

• Dan Nicollet, Co-founder, Supercritical Energy, a pioneer of Supercritical Fluid Technology applied to distributed energy generation and storage on the electric grid

• Marcus Wood , Partner and Chair of the Energy and Telecommunications (ENTEL) practice group Stoel Rives, . He focuses his practice on energy provider and energy facility developer clients.

The panel will be moderated by John Thornton, Founder, Clean Future, a consulting firm providing business and technical expertise at the convergence of energy, mobility, sustainability and the Smart Grid.

Global companies are closely eyeing the opportunity in the now-developing and popular smart grid market. Currently, the U.S. is the hot spot for smart grid development and is also attracting Asian companies from Japan, China and Korea, who are interested in deploying their smart grid technologies in the U.S. However, a majority of the U.S.-based smart grid technology companies in this market are unaware of the opportunities outside of the U.S.

This seminar will off er opportunities to learn what is happening in the smart grid market in Japan and the U.S. Furthermore, in this seminar you will learn ideas on how Japanese and U.S. smart grid companies could complement each other to grow the market together.

The general difference in the current implementation of the smart grid in Japan and the U.S. is that the U.S. seems more business-focused, aiming to reduce energy costs and develop infrastructure, while Japan seems more society-focused, seeking to reduce carbon emissions as a whole. Japan already has a reliable grid and is pushing for advanced integrated control including demand-side to be ready for intermittent renewable energy sources. In the United States, however, there’s a need for highly reliable transmission and distribution networks.

Join us for an opportunity to advance a close working relationship between Japan and the U.S. to develop and deploy the smart grid in each nation.