LOCKHEED MARTIN INVOLVEMENT IN BED'S SMART GRID / SMART METER PROJECT

Several points for you to consider RE your concern about  Lockheed.   Lockheed's''  involvement in BED's project - direct and/or indirect - seems assured.  ( for at least one of two very different Roles)

ROLE # 1:  The Vermont State Smart Grid / Smart Meter Program, partially funded by the ARRA - AMI grant,  has  key strategic and tactical roles,  described in the Grant documents and recent UVM publicity releases, as a partnering relationship for Sandia National Laboratories which operates as a  GOCO - Government Owned Contractor Operated entity.   Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, is the  Contractor that Manages Sandia National Laboratories.  (Note, that both entities are often referred to as simply: "Sandia".) BED's local project is obligated to be coordinated with the roles that the UVM Sandia partnering relationship provides under the ARRA AMI Grant to Vermont and separate DOE funding, including the sharing of data, analysis, standards, etc. BED is a beneficiary, is a participant, and has obligations under that program.  Believing that BED is  a wholly autonomous project participant - isolated from the State run program, and especially the data gathering, data analysis, and standards development, would be an error.  Paul Hines, Prof of UVM Engineering with emphasis on Smart Meters, Co-Chair of the BED Commission, and participant in the UVM/Sandia part of the program, has a foot in many parts of the program that touch BED.   BED's application for participation in the Vermont ARRA AMI project included  roles for Paul that clearly draws heavily on his relationship to BED.

Role # 2:  Importantly:  I understand BED to claim  that they  have not (yet) contracted for delivery of Smart Meters; and, they will not contract for Smart Meters unless and until BED is assured of the Bond funding that BED is requesting. So, any claim that Itron, Lockheed, or any other supplier of meter related deliverables is not (yet) a supplier, for the BED smart meters part of the project, seems to be at least technically true, at this point in time.

I understand that the intended supplier of Smart Meters  to the BED program, is claimed by BED to be Itron - which equipment was demonstrated by what I understood to be Itron employees at last weeks' BED smart meter/ smart grid Open House. Itron does not supply all of  the products , services, and technologies needed to make Itron Smart Meters perform in the BED project as planned.  Itron needs either Lockheed products and services or an alternative supplier to provide the missing systems capabilities. The response to my questions about the needed complementary supplier technologies that make Itron smart meters fully functional in the intended roles for those meters, was  SEESuite / SEEload, which I understand to be  Lockheed products, services and technologies. Maybe that comment was intended by Itron to  be only an example.   You can check that on Itron's website Partner pages. www.itron.com   And, we can all learn the full complement of supplier products and technologies once the Funding is decided and the contracts are let.

JF, June25, 2011