San Jose, CA, U.S.A. --- (METERING.COM) --- September 7, 2010 - Metering International’s first Smart Energy International event, taking place under the theme “Connecting our world of energy,” gets under way in San Jose, CA, today.

Combining and building on the Smart Energy West Coast and East Coast events of the past four years, Smart Energy International is positioned to provide a single, powerful event offering all the smart energy information and networking needs for the smart utility.

At the time of writing, more than 400 delegate registrations had been recorded from the U.S. and 18 other countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

The three track event is based on the three pillars of “Energy sustainability,” “Operational excellence,” and “Customer engagement,” which were identified early in the planning by the industry conference committee. In addition there is a fourth track in the collocated Smart Energy Storage Summit, which will focus on the latest technologies and solutions in this fast growing field.

The event opens with pre-conference workshops on the Green Machine by its developer Aaron Marcus, and the development of smart meter customer education by Peter Honebein.

The event formally opens on Wednesday, with keynotes on the changing role of the utility in a decentralized world by John Bohn, commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission, and managing the utility business in a changing landscape by James Avery, senior VP power supply at San Diego Gas & Electric. A panel discussion on the role of environmental policy in driving green innovation around smart grid and energy efficiency follows, after which the delegates breakaway into their respective tracks. They then reconvene Thursday afternoon in a closing panel discussion on steps to align the industry with regulatory targets, meet consumer needs and leverage technological advancements for a sustainable future.

Other highlights include an executive round table which seeks to identify industry next steps towards smart grid realization, and breakfast smart sessions.

Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric and Silicon Valley Power are the host utilities, and the event is well supported by a number of sponsors, including Oracle Utilities as the Platinum sponsor.