Today, July 11, two California companies -- San Diego-based GreenHouse Holdings, Inc., a provider of sustainable facilities products, and Irvine-based IC Systems, a provider of monitoring equipment --announced that they will partner to provide an Automated Demand Response and Control system to Southern California Edison (News - Alert) (SCE) that can be operated by participating power customers.

Under the terms of the agreement, IC Systems has chosen GreenHouse to be its exclusive distributor for smart grid applications within the SCE territory.

IC’s Gridlink Auto-DR product successfully combines cloud-based connectivity and communications with industrial automation technologies. While conventional, automated control systems are installed with the programming needed to achieve reductions in electricity consumption during peak periods of demand on the grid, participants in SCE's Auto-DR program are in 100 percent control of the actual curtailment measures implemented on an event-to-event basis.

“Additionally, the systems commonly implemented for Auto-DR participation are fully capable of being used to improve productivity and equipment operating efficiencies, as well as provide users with information that can augment routine and emergency operations and maintenance regimens," explained Robert Davis, vice president of Energy Services at GreenHouse.

"We are both pleased and honored to be associated with IC Systems," commented Davis. "IC Systems' innovative combination of readily available technology and proprietary software will play a very large part in our success story, as we take Gridlink Auto-DR to new markets and customer segments."

"There is no doubt in my mind that this partnership will take both companies to previously unforeseen new heights," offered Doug Sheldon, president, IC Systems.

The Auto-DR program offers significant financial incentives and technical support to Southern California Edison customers willing to install equipment that enables participation in demand response events. Southern California Edison is one of the largest electric utilities in California, serving more than 14 million people in a 50,000 square-mile area of central, coastal, and Southern California, excluding the City of Los Angeles and certain other cities.

For more information, visit the Southern California Edison Auto-Demand Response website.