Click for quick bursts of news you can use to get your week started - a look at how a Minnesota coop is "gamifying" energy efficiency and demand response, Cal ISO's new phone app for power grid updates, the DOE's new open data research hub and more too.

This report by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory attempts to estimate the market size for stationary energy storage systems for two specific applications: 1) balancing services necessary to accommodate the growing variations in the generation supply from renewable energy resources, and 2) energy arbitrage that provides congestion management strategies and the potential to lower the cost of delivering electricity.

The California PUC this week made what some say is a "monumental" decision to order Southern California Edison to procure at least 50 megawatts of energy storage by 2021 and to consider storage as a "preferred source" in its resource mix. Could this be the breakthrough storage has needed?

The sales team at a certain Abilene, Texas company ought to be getting some high fives this week for announcing wins with four separate utilities - three of them for outage management systems. Click to learn who our quadruple winner is, plus a look at the latest deals inked by Tendril, On-Ramp Wireless and others.

Mergers and acquisitions in the North American power and utilities sector more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011, according to a quarterly report from PwC. Click for details on what happened and why.

New research from Newton-Evans unearthed several significant trends - and one that was just plain disappointing: U.S. utilities are failing to stay current with today's standards and best practices.

From rebates and smart home makeovers to online games and electrifying theatrical performances, you may be as surprised as we were at some of the creative ways power companies are sending a little love to their customers and communities. Click for seven customer engagement ideas that may inspire you.

Japan put an URGENT! stamp on its smart cities/smart grid efforts following 2011's disastrous combination of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Now, the government is supporting major projects in four large cities as well as other similar programs elsewhere in the country.

Siemens is targeting data centers - the single largest energy consumption source for most enterprises - with its new Data Center Infrastructure Management solution that draws on its experience in building automation, power distribution and other areas. Click inside for a closer look.

If you didn't catch the President's State of the Union address Tuesday, we've pulled out highlights on what he had to say about the power grid, energy efficiency, cyber attacks and related issues. We've also got reactions from groups that liked what he said, didn't like what he said and/or didn't think he said enough. You're invited to weigh in too.

TXU Energy seems to really want its customers to cut back on habits that waste energy. The company offers a variety of products, plans and services designed to do just that - from smart thermostats to buyback programs for customers with surpluses from their wind and solar power systems.

GE will incorporate Google Maps data into its Smallworld applications to give utilities a better view of their networks. The ability to visualize and analyze data on a map means utilities can more accurately monitor the efficiency and productivity of field operations and give customers up-to-date information on things like outage restoration times.

The Department of Energy just announced it is accepting applications for R&D and demonstrations leading to next-gen tools and technologies that will help boost cybersecurity for energy delivery systems.

An enterprise architecture practice can help utilities deal with the issues of IT and OT convergence while also ensuring that smart grid efforts stay aligned with business strategy. Dr. Gerald Gray of the Electric Power Research Institute offers examples and an opportunity for utilities to join an EPRI Smart Grid Enterprise Architecture Interest Group.

From Turkey's smart grid spending plans (and what they could mean for U.S. companies) to tumbling renewable prices in Australia (and what they could mean for coal plants) we're taking a quick look at some interesting new developments near and far.

A new intelligence report paints a picture of a massive and sustained cyber-espionage campaign that threatens U.S. economic competitiveness. The Washington Post says the report suggests hackers have focused on the energy industry, among others, to gain access to data for economic advantage. It identifies China as most aggressive, but also names three other countries it says are involved to a lesser degree.

In this Clean Energy Connections panel discussion, leaders working and studying the industry dive into successes, failures and the steps which can be taken to expedite the commercialization and deployment of advanced storage technologies.

A consortium funded by Sustainable Development Technology Canada has installed one of the first community energy storage units in North America.

Arizona Public Service is testing a new 1.5 megawatt-hour energy storage system that can generate the equivalent power output of 1,200 hybrid cars or 300,000 cell phone batteries.

Whether it involves individuals pulling a fast one on their local utility or sophisticated pot growing operations, catching culprits behind an estimated $202.2 billion in energy loss each year is a challenge. Now a Vancouver, B.C. startup is offering its technology that identifies power diversion and equipment failures as a service - with a payment option that may surprise you.