David Mohler, VP and Chief Technology Officer, Duke Energy

March 11, 2010 - The HomePlug(R) Powerline Alliance, today announced that Duke Energy, USA, which delivers energy to 4m customers has joined the Alliance's board of directors.

"Powerline networking will play a key role in connecting home appliances and systems to the Smart Grid enabling intelligent management and monitoring for energy savings and efficiency," said David Mohler, VP and chief technology officer, Duke Energy. "HomePlug, as a base specification within the IEEE 1901 Standard, offers an interoperable standards based technology roadmap from low cost to high-bandwidth and next-generation solutions that will meet the needs of the robust home network that is necessary for the smart grid. We look forward to increasing our involvement with the Alliance."

"The Smart Grid has been a key focus for HomePlug, with HomePlug's Green PHY (GP) specification at the center of our smart grid efforts," said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. "Utility companies are key players in the roll out of the Smart Grid, and having a major utility like Duke Energy join our board of directors is a very exciting development for the HomePlug Alliance. We see them playing an integral role in shaping the future of the Smart Grid connectivity."

HomePlug devices account for 75 percent of the world's broadband powerline communications market, and over 40 million devices have shipped to date. The Alliance works with key stakeholders to ensure all of its specifications are designed to meet the requirement for interoperability stated by service providers, utilities, equipment and appliance manufacturers, consumer electronics and other important stakeholders. The Alliance operates the powerline networking industry's largest Compliance and Interoperability Certification Program to ensure true multi-vendor co-existence and interoperability. The program has certified more than 190 products and will also begin certifying IEEE 1901 products in 2010.