Electric Reliability Council Of Texas (ERCOT) Leverages Comverge Intelligent Energy Management (IEM) Solutions To Maintain Grid Reliability

NORCROSS, Ga., Feb. 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comverge, Inc. (Nasdaq:COMV), the leading provider of Intelligent Energy Management solutions for Residential and Commercial + Industrial customers, today announced that its load assets helped the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) minimize the impact of recent severe weather conditions on both consumers and businesses in Texas. To reduce the strain placed on the grid by snow and ice storms, ERCOT leveraged Comverge IEM solutions to immediately, reliably and securely counter the loss of more than 7,000 megawatts of generation that was causing rolling blackouts throughout the region.

"The events in Texas last week are another example of the extreme weather conditions that are compounding the already complex energy supply and demand challenges facing our nation," said R. Blake Young, President and CEO, Comverge. "These unexpected events, unlike the anticipated summer loads, speak even more strongly to the critical role that demand response plays in our Nation's energy mix. Comverge has a very strong presence in Texas and we are pleased to help ERCOT reduce the strain on its network preventing additional brownouts and potentially dangerous and expensive blackouts."

A week of severe weather across Texas that included snow fall in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, ice storms and consecutive days of unseasonably low temperatures, resulted in rolling blackouts throughout the region as the ERCOT network was placed under immense strain. To help reduce the strain, Comverge's C&I demand response assets were called into action to help ERCOT optimize energy usage and prevent blackouts.

The ERCOT event is the latest in a long and increasingly frequent list of severe weather conditions that Comverge has helped grid operators and electric utilities manage. In July 2010, Comverge helped two grid operators and more than 10 electric utilities in the Eastern United States maintain grid reliability during a brutal heat wave that saw record temperatures recorded. During the event, Comverge delivered more than 250 megawatts (MW) of reduced electricity demand to C+I and residential customers across 13 states, further underscoring the strategic value of its IEM solutions to both electric utilities and residential and C+I end consumers.