Trade Association Hails Tax Decision on Smart Grid Grants and Applauds DOE Efforts

WASHINGTON, March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG), the trade group for the smart grid industry, today hailed the issuance by the U.S. Treasury Department of a finding that the smart grid investment grants being provided by the Department of Energy would not be taxable to the grant recipients.

Dan Delurey, President of DRSG, made the following statement:

"The issue of tax liability has been the last major issue that has stood in the way of contract execution between DOE and the grant recipients, and the IRS ruling should pave the way for a large number of smart grid projects to move forward and begin deployment.  That means not only that smart grid infrastructure and practices will accelerate across the country, but also that smart grid can better serve as an engine for job creation in the coming months.

"We also want to take this opportunity to applaud the efforts of DOE on the smart grid investment grant program.  We know that this program did not yet exist at the time that DOE was directed by Congress to use stimulus funds for smart grid activity.  We know the challenges that DOE faced in creating the programmatic infrastructure and rules to allow the grants to move forward.  We believe the DOE's efforts met those challenges and we believe its achievement should be recognized."

About DRSG

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) is the trade association for companies that provide products and services in the areas of demand response and smart grid. DRSG works to educate and provide information to policymakers, utilities, the media, the financial community and stakeholders on how demand response and smart grid technologies can help modernize our electricity system and provide customers with new information and options for managing their electricity use.

Members of the DRSG Coalition include: Aclara, Advanced Telemetry, Ambient, Amplex, Boeing, Bridge Energy Group, CABA, CalAmp, CALMAC, Comverge, Conservation Services Group, Control4, Corporate Systems Engineering, CPower, Echelon, Eka Systems, Electrolux, eMeter, Energy Capital Partners, EnergyConnect, Energy Curtailment Specialists, EnergySolve, EnerNOC, Enfora, EnOcean Alliance, Enspiria Solutions, GE, Google, HomeGrid Forum, Honeywell, Ice Energy, Itron, Johnson Controls, KMC Controls, Landis+Gyr, LG Electronics, Lockheed Martin, Lutron Electronics, Midas Medici Group Holdings, Oracle, PCN Technology, Sensus, Silver Spring Networks, SmartSynch, Space-Time Insight, Steffes, Tendril, Trilliant Networks, Universal Powerline Association, Whirlpool, ZigBee Alliance, Ziphany. More information is available at www.drsgcoalition.org.

SOURCE Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition