Russell Hancock, President & CEO, Joint Venture Silicon Valley

San Jose, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- January 21, 2013 - The Joint Venture Silicon Valley initiative has launched the Smart Energy Enterprise Development Zone (SEEDZ), focused on building a localized smart grid in Silicon Valley.

Centered in an 8.25squaremile zone spanning north Sunnyvale, north Mountain View and Moffett Field, the initiative encompasses a portfolio of essential smart energy elements, according to a press statement. These include smart energy practices, standards and technologies for efficiency, renewable energy, grid performance and business model integration.

“Smart energy matters to the world, and uniquely so in Silicon Valley,” said Joint Venture president and CEO,Russell Hancock. “It promises essential long term economic and environmental benefits. Silicon Valley sits at the heart of the emerging ‘nexus’ between energy, electronics and information technology, and sustainability. Until now, there is no such large-scale collaboration in Silicon Valley. That's why Joint Venture has undertaken this important project.”

Joint Venture envisions that by 2020 the initiative will have built out the country’s highest performance two-way power network, supporting and rewarding active energy management and clean distributed generation on a sustainable economic scale.

It is also intended to serve as a replicable example that demonstrates Silicon Valley’s latest developments in efficiency, clean energy, grid performance and business model integration.

Collaborations within the initiative will be built around the key smart energy elements. By bringing together various stakeholders, areas of common opportunity may be identified, integrated standards and solutions defined, time and investment leveraged, and best practices more rapidly propagated.

To lead the initiative, Joint Venture has appointed Don Bray, co-founder of clean technology market research and consulting firm AltaTerra Research, as executive director.

Founding partners and directors include the Electric Power Research Institute, Applied Materials, PG&E, Google, Juniper Networks, and the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

Joint Venture Silicon Valley brings together leaders from business, government, academia, labor and the broader community to spotlight issues affecting the region's economy and quality of life and work toward innovative solutions.