Conference Bites

Green:Net 4/21 San Francisco

"We need a better rallying cry than“If we try really really hard the future is going to suck a little bit less."
~ Saul Griffith, Makani Power

"We need a proportional quantitative understanding of energy use, for everyone."
~ Saul Griffith, Makani Power

 "We sell a product that consumers can’t see, touch or smell and if they touch it, they die."
~ David Crane, NRG

"The Conundrum being worked on which we haven't come to grips with is that this is a product American consumer can not conceptualize."
~ David Crane, NRG

"Nuclear is the single most important Green thing we can do."
~ David Crane, NRG

"Due to Fukishima, we are caught in a netherworld (of NRC safety review)... a stunning setback for the environment."
~ David Crane, NRG

"This (the cellphone) is an overlooked solution to our energy and transportation challenges."
~ Sunil Paul, Spring Ventures

"Social networks have increased trust among people, making it easier for collaborative consumption"
~ As tweeted by OnGreen

"A million wells have gone dry in India in the last decade."
~ Rob Bernard, Microsoft

"Data centers are the fastest growing consumer of powers in developing nations."
~ Rob Bernard, Microsoft

"(Reguarding digital prototyping) I wish I could digitally simulate raising my kid... I would do stuff differently!"
~ Carl Bass, Autodesk

"(In design) if you knew at the beginning what you know at the end, you'd always do something different."
~ Carl Bass, Autodesk


For more info on Green:Net:

Energy ThinkIn Event at Frog Design October 27 San Francisco

"The World Wildlife Fund has its panda. Lance Armstrong gave us the 'Live Strong' yellow wristband to help fight cancer. What we're after is a way to help consumers worldwide relate to the smart grid in the same way... We're here to find our panda."
~ Jesse Berst, Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

"We're lucky to have Frog Design, the cool kids, on our side in this."
~ Jesse Berst, Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative

"Whatever the symbol is, it has to be muscular, US-centric, with no question about patriotism."
~ Linda Schuck, California Institute for Energy and the Environment

"People won't rally behind conservation as a long-term strategy. Jimmy Carter's failure to rally Americans behind the idea showed us that."
~ Bob LeFort, Ember

"We need to reach a greatest common denominator, but not the lowest common denominator. We need to find a solution that is both compelling and engaging for those who aren’t already the archetypical 'energy conscious consumer'."
~ Steve Hauser, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

"We aren't just thinking of a brand for the energy conscious consumer. We are branding energy itself."
~ David Merkowski, Frog Design

For more info on Energy ThinkIn:

West Coast Green Sept 30 - Oct 2 San Francisco, Day 2

"When Washington didn't act on climate change, Arnold realized 'I've got to lead... (doing an Arnold impersonation on climate change) Action! Action! Action!'."
~ Cynthia Tuck, Cal EPA

"There is no better hangover helper than a bureaucrat with a power point."
~ Panama Bartholomy, Califonria Energy Commission

"Los Angeles is becoming the new Detroit: for EVs."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission

"My 25 years teaching fifth graders were the best preparation for the egos in Sacramento."
~ Fran Pavley, California State Senator as quoted by Panama Bartholomy

"How many administrations does it take to change a light bulb?"
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission, talking about their efforts to upgrade lighting at the state capital

"A smarter planet starts with individuals and homes and moves to enterprises and cities."
~ Al Zollar, IBM

"IBM has a super computer that is about to take on jeopardy champions."
~ Al Zollar, IBM

"Building to code is doing what's legal but we need to build beyond code to meet the crisis."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commissionas tweeted by Kimberly Madrigal

"The button said 'Yes we can', it didn't say 'I sure hope he can'."
~ Panama Bartholomy, California Energy Commission quoting Van Jones

For more information on West Cost Green:

West Coast Green Sept 30 - Oct 2 San Francisco, Day 1

"Hope 2.0 is about what each of us does everyday, not just at the ballot box one day."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Hope may be a renewable resource, but it is on a long cycle. (Forty years from MLK's death (in the year I was born) to Obama)."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Teach your children everything you know, and let them teach you everything you forgot."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Washington D.C. will not be the engine of change... if we are lucky, it will be the caboose."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"If an offshore wind turbine goes down you don't have a massive windslick."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"Everything that is good for the environment, is a job."
~ Van Jones, Center for American Progress

"If you want to see a change, a transformation occur, you have to lead it."
~ Doug Davis, Intel

"Intel buys renewable power equivalent to taking 185,000 cars off the road."
~ Doug Davis, Intel

"We need a new design assignment as a species. What does 100% fabulous look like?"
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

"Design is the first signal of human intention."
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

"We will move from being consumers to prosumers, both producers and consumers of energy."
~ Andres Carvallo, Grid Net

"There is an ecosystem developing to make the smart home a reality. The smart meter is PG&E's enabling investment."
~ Andy Tang, PG&E

"We have one way grid today, we need to have two way grid very soon."
~ Andy Tang, PG&E

"I am rededicating my design firm on the bottom 2 Billion, not the 2 Billion at the top that is designed for today."
~ Bill McDonough, William McDonough + Partners

For more information on West Cost Green:

TechCrunch Disrupt August 27-29 San Francisco, Part 2

"There have been three Waves of the internet to date: portal, search engine, social networks."
~ Jeff Weiner, Linked In

"I never believed anything would replace the desktop… I never thought I would adopt as quickly to this iPad."
~ Barry Diller, IAC

Arrington to Diller: "Do you think Tim Armstrong is going to win at AOL? Whether they will succeed before the icecube melts?"

Diller to Arrington: "You can’t say—even your asking the question is suspect." (to much laughter)

Diller on AOL: "Warners disdained it from the moment it was bought… now it has a real chance…the energy and commitment is there. There is a real direction, there is a real plan, it is under a real leader. It’s got a real chance."

"I like disruption. It seems like a fun game to play."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"IE9 with scrolling view and menu lock is nice, but doesn’t deserve to be in a conference called Disrupt."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"One third of the world’s energy is produced on GE equipment. We are the largest renewables company in the world."
~ Kevin Skillern, GE Venture Capital

"When experts do forecasts, they are about as good as dart throwing monkeys."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"Throw away the experts, take a swing at the plate. If you strike out, take another at bat."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"Think non-linearly at all times, in whatever you are doing."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"Larry and Sergei were ready to sell their company for < $1M, but the Excite Board wouldn’t buy despite my asking them 5 times."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

"I think environmentalists are doing more damage to our progress, by prescribing specific solutions without paying attention to cost."
~ Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

For more information on TechCrunch Disrupt:

TechCrunch Disrupt August 27-29 San Francisco, Part 1

"An internet treasure is a company that makes us proud to be alive at this time."
~ Bing Gordon, KPCB

"We can make products that people can’t imagine life without."
~ Mark Pincus, Zynga

"There is a greater purpose to what we do... becoming an “internet treasure” provides that."
~ Mark Pincus, Zynga

Crash heard back stage at TechCrunch Disrupt, "That was the sound of MySpace crashing."
~ Bing Gordon, KPCB

"Zynga has to make your daily grind have more meaning, however we can—giving to Haiti, connect to a friend, ache4iving your goals"
~ Mark Pincus, Zynga

"Do you think it is ethically fair to charge as much for ink as you do?" (applause)
~ Michael Arrington to Todd Bradley, EVP HP

"I don’t focus on a spreadsheet (for new initiatives)— I focus on what is the fundamental problem."
~ Scott Cook, Intuit

"We have recieved 2500 ideas from 85 countries— some or which bend the laws of science."
~ Beth Comstock, GE on Ecomagination SmartGrid Challenge

"We want to hear from small start ups. We want to do partnerships."
~ Beth Comstock, GE

"We are going to do more Ecomagination challenges— maybe just in the electric vehicle space for example."
~ Beth Comstock, GE

"The facebook movie is a portrayal of how Hollywood works, not how Silicon Valley works.
Hollywood is the nasty zero sum game where everyone stomps on everybody else— not the Valley!"
~ Peter Thiel, Clarium Capital

For more information on TechCrunch Disrupt:

Gridwise Global Forum September 21-23 Washington D.C., Part 3

"75% of energy usage takes place in the top 20 megacities of the world. 40% of that is consumed by enterprises."
~ Wim Elfrink, EVP Services & Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco

"Two technologies made for each other: The electric car & the smart grid. The car is the killer app…(but) if this is a niche market, like a Prius, it will be a failure. Tying the car to the grid is the key to SmartGrid equaling energy independence. Because it offers a way to connects nuclear energy and renewables to our oil usage."
~ Robbie Diamond, President and CEO, Electrification Coalition

"I don’t know how many people are walking around saying 'Man I really wish my grid was smart'."
~ Rob Atkinson, President, Itif

"You need smart regulation—government with a vision—that will dare to be disruptive."
~ Wim Elfrink, EVP Services & Chief Globalization Officer, Cisco

"(We have tools) that  collect, process, report, and reflect but what’s missing is the trigger to take action based on that reflection."
 ~ David Merkoski, Executive Creative Director, Frog Design

"It's going to be a lot harder to make consumers make the decisions rather than to have our technologies make right choices."
~ Jesse Berst, Executive Editor, Smart Grid Newsletter

"What are the metrics—not the results from the 25% of energy geeks, but from the broad base of customers?"
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

"We need to get the cars beyond the early adopters—to real consumers, in the 50,000s. Regions need to bid for the chance to get government support on the infrastructure, like bidding for the Olympics, otherwise you will be in the hybrid rut."
~ Robbie Diamond, President and CEO, Electrification Coalition

"We need to figure out how to turn up the crank on the innovation cycle—if it takes you three years to make the customer rate case, its not enough—we need to scale up our existing pilots."
~ Lars Lee-Potreck, EMEA Sales, eMeter

"I am looking for plug and play windmills at Home Depot, though maybe not in the next 18 months."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

Key question posed by Marc Gunther: "Does it have to be sold or can we just work it out in this room?"
~ Marc Gunther, Contributing Editor, Fortune Magazine

One answer from earlier in the day: "Smart meters don’t save energy, consumers do."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

For more information on Gridwise Global Forum:

Jeff Immelt Keynote Interview with Tom Friedman at Gridwise Global Forum 9/23

Favorite Quotes from Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE in dialog with Tom Friedman:

"There is an inevitability around electric vehicles.  The Chinese have said this is going to happen, and that is how it works now, guys."

"If you take all the utilities in the US and add them all together, they would be smaller than the State Grid in China."

"Price for carbon [is important because this is an] incredibly long cycle industry.  Without the right signals, the right investments are not going to be made."

"We could wake up tomorrow and find gas at $150 a barrel, and we haven’t done a gosh darn thing to prepare for it."

"(His Policy Prescription:) Pick fewer things, do them more deeply, have a global view. Say we are going to be the best in the world at this and be committed to taking it all the way."

"On a National Smart Grid, we have done nothing. We have to face a couple of realities:  The grid has to be both bigger and smarter.... We just aren’t going to do this 50 states at a time. The whole energy system is a relic of the 1860s—it has no basis in the modern world—regulation will determine whether it’s a hobby shop or a real world solution."

"I love the U.S. It’s a great country. But we actually have to have an energy policy—this is just stupid what we have today. We somehow allowed the whole discussion around clean energy investing to get wrapped up around green and climate."

"I was in Canada last night and I told them, I’ve been coming to Canada for a long time, for the first time, this feels like a real place—people are walking around with a spring in their step. We did a cocktail party with 50 young people—very diverse—way more so than the U.S."

"The rest of the world is moving so fast—energy is one of the places where I just worry the most. (Our lack of action)—it’s going to mean fewer jobs and less energy security."

"I don’t care what people say, I am not going to give up. We are going to keep investing in renewables and Smart Grid."

"Mike Duke (CEO of Wal-Mart) is probably going to kill me for saying this, but they are the single most competitive entity in this country, and they are (shhh!) green."

"[Clean Tech] is not the jihadist debate that people are making it out to be."

For more information on Gridwise Global Forum:

Gridwise Global Forum September 21-23 Washington D.C., Part 1

Jesse Berst kicks off consumer panel quoting Sam Palmisano, "We must make the customer the center of our design".
~ Jesse Berst, Executive Editor, Smart Grid Newsletter

"Ironically, most of the work on segmentation has been around how not to talk to your customers."
~ Greg Guthrie, Global Retail Operations Lead, Accenture

"Passive ratepayers can easily become angry ratepayers."
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

"75% in tech savvy Redmond, WA pay their bill online, but only 5% do anything else."
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

"Edison International segmented customers in four groups: Energy Active 35%; New Technologists 25%; Cost Conscious 16%; Less Engaged 25%."
~ Ted Craver, President, Chairman, and CEO, Edison International

"We are drowning in 'awareness tech'—not getting at the fundamental behavioral problem." ~ David Merkoski, Executive Creative Director, Frog Design

"When it comes to energy, we are designing the self image—asking them to be someone else—a tall order."
~ David Merkoski, Executive Creative Director, Frog Design

"The difference between Amazon.com and your utility is that with your power, you don’t choose."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

"Consumer choice is paramount... think 'how do I put the consumer in control'."
~ Fiona Sim, Director of the Intel Open Energy Initiative, Intel

"We need more clear slate thinking, If this were Sim City, what would we do, starting from fresh?"
~ Jesse Berst, Executive Editor, Smart Grid Newsletter

"When you think about SmartGrid, we don’t do anything to the electrons. We add telecom to the energy”.
~ Paul Budde, Executive Director - Smart Grid Australia

"Utilities are run by engineers—appropriately so. You wouldn’t want a marketer to solve those problems (no offense to the marketers and communicators in the room). But a true SmartGrid includes a smart customer, and that takes (sophisticated) communications."
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

"Privacy concerns dissipate when you are delivering the consumers real value."
~ Alex Laskey, President and Founder, OPOWER

Re: need for cute consumer friendly Panda-like symbol for The Smart Grid— "I looked at Toys R Us and couldn’t find a single stuffed toy smart meter."
~ Jesse Berst, Executive Editor, Smart Grid Newsletter

For more information on Gridwise Global Forum:

GE Ecomagination Challenge Launch Event: Powering the Grid July 13 San Francisco

"We want to make clean tech our reality."
~ Beth Comstock, SVP & CMO, GE

"Our business would be a Fortune 130 business, just in clean technology."
~ Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE

"This is not a precious initiative, it is a broad based industrial effort."
~ Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE

"Smart Gird may be an elite term, we are using 'Digital Energy' within GE."
~ Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE

"Policy clarity would help, but we are going to go forward regardless."
~ Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE

"This problem is a fat slow rabbit. There are lots of ways to succeed Scale is the challenge GE can help with."
~ Ray Lane, Managing Partner, KPCB

"We've got this 100 year hairball of pricing based on past needs, not current opportunities, that we have to unwind."
~ Chuck McDermott, Founder & General Partner, Rockport Capital

"Storing electricity could be the holy grail, if it's low cost."
~ Mark Little, SVP & Director, GE Global Research

"Our partners help GE avoid being like Godzilla at the end of the movie with the tail wiping out villages, when it comes to working with small firms."
~ Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE

"We are the pioneers, and we now have the arrows in the back."
~ Peter Darbee, CEO, PG&E

"Necessity may be the mother of invention, but energy and environment is the mother of all necessities."
~ Arun Majumdar, Director, ARPA-E

For more information on the GE Ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid: