New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman to Lead Closing Plenary Session at GridWeek 2008

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ — With his recent book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded” just released this week, author and New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman will be presenting his views of the “energy internet” at the GridWeek 2008 conference scheduled later this month in Washington, D.C.

More than 125 speakers will offer a road map for leaders in government, industry and academia on how to implement utility smart grid and renewable energy solutions, defined by Mr. Friedman in his book as, “The Energy Internet: When IT meets ET.” He goes on to describe these networked energy solutions as, ” … like all the power systems in your home were communicating with all the information systems in your home and they had all merged into one big seamless platform for using, storing, generating and even buying and selling clean electrons.”

Mr. Friedman will lead a plenary session on the last day of the conference, Thursday, September 25th. GridWeek 2008, which runs from September 22 to 25 in Washington, D.C. at the Ronald Reagan Building, is where U.S. electricity grid thought leaders will explore the smart grid’s role in delivering sustainable energy. Energy policy makers and members of public utility and information technology industries will examine smart grid successes, the role of the smart grid in carbon reduction, alternative distributed generation and renewable energy, and the implementation of the Energy Act of 2007.

Included in the more than 125 presenters at GridWeek 2008 are keynote presentations from Jeremy Rifkin, author and journalist; John Kelly, IBM senior vice president and director of research; and Bob Gilligan, general manager for GE Energy’s transmission and distribution business.

The GridWeek 2008 conference is organized by Clasma Events Inc. in partnership with the Department of Energy and the GridWise Alliance, with platinum sponsor support from ABB, Elster, General Electric, IBM and SmartSynch.

For more information on GridWeek 2008 and to register to attend, please go to http://www.gridweek.com/ or call (972) 865-2247.

About GridWeek (http://www.gridweek.com/)

GridWeek 2008 is where U.S. electricity grid thought leaders will explore the smart grid’s role in delivering sustainable energy. Energy policy makers and members of public utility and information technology industries will examine smart grid successes, role in carbon reduction, alternative distributed generation, and the implementation of the Energy Act of 2007. With speeches and other sessions about enabling energy and utility efficiencies, IT and grid interoperability, new business models, and energy security, GridWeek, produced by Clasma Events Inc., is the event to outline smart grid possibilities and expectations as the U.S. electricity system moves into the 21st century.

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CONTACT: Roger Bridgeman of Bridgeman Communications for GridWeek,+1-617-742-7270, C: +1-781-223-4895

Web site: http://www.gridweek.com/