Echelon (ELON) has released a new open software platform for intelligent distributed control and a series of new products for the smart grid and Duke Energy (DUK) is first in line to purchase the Edge Control Node 7000 Series running the Echelon Control System software.  Field trial deployments are expected to begin by the end of the year with production units expected to ship in about a year.  The initial order is valued at around $14.5 million.  Considering Duke is the nations 3rd largest utility, this may prove to be a lucrative relationship for Echelon in the coming years.  Traders like the announcement, sending the stock up another 5% today, but right into resistance of the 200 day moving average.

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CEO of Echelon Ron Sege commented:  “By making the low-voltage part of the grid nearest the user smarter, the ECoS powered ECN 7000 series can help utilities address the challenges brought on by increasing peak demand, the proliferation of renewable energy sources, and the emergence of electric vehicles.  Just as applications platforms have transformed the mobile phone industry, we believe our open platform is transformative and will empower our customers and partners to create intelligent control solutions that were either impossible or prohibitively expensive in the past. Duke Energy is an industry thought leader and we are honored to have them as our first customer for this groundbreaking platform.”