Smart grid technolgies. ZDNet Asia reports:

WASHINGTON — Here at a conference on the utility of the future, the starring players are Google, IBM, Cisco Systems, Intel, and smart grid start-ups. The reason? Data.
Modernizing the grid isn’t just about installing more transmissions lines and smart meters. It’s a giant information challenge as well, said attendees of consulting firm Kema’s Utility of the Future conference here on Thursday.
The heavyweight IT companies are seeking to capitalize on initiatives around the world to upgrade the power infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to soon announce how billions of dollars in stimulus money for smart grid will be allocated.
Smart grid has also become one of clean-tech venture capitalists’ favorite areas, spawning dozens of start-ups with ways to make the grid run more efficiently and integrate more solar and wind power.
Altogether, it’s a combination that could end up creating a bubble, said Diana Propper, a clean-tech venture capitalist at Expansion Capital Partners.
“I worry that there’s so much money being sloshed around, whether it’s venture capital or corporate or government money, that it will be spent inefficiently,” she said during a panel.
“The risk of a bubble is real.”