For years, energy-management technologies have played second fiddle to energy-generation technologies such as solar power, wind power and biofuels. But in an economic downturn, the so-called “smart grid” sector, which often has been labeled “not sexy” by investors and analysts, is becoming ever more attractive.

On Monday, eMeter announced that Texas utility CenterPoint will use its meter-data-management system for a rollout of 2 million smart meters starting in March and finishing up in 2013. The system, called EnergyIP, will help CenterPoint’s Houston-area customers monitor and manage their electricity use and cost, as well as provide outage, restoration and connection and disconnection services for the company. While he didn’t say how much eMeter will earn from the contract, Chris King, chief strategy officer for the San Mateo, Calif.-based company, said that the IT system will make up less than 5 percent, or $32 million, of the cost of the $640 million program.

eMeter’s software essentially helps the utility’s older systems, like billing, work together with the new smart-grid systems, King says. The network includes automated controls for different appliances, and it will keep track of the appliances and report power outages. The software — and the smart meters it works with — enable peak-pricing and time-of-use programs, in which utilities charge more for electricity used during times of high demand, as well as demand-response programs, in which utilities ask a group of customers to reduce their usage during critical periods to avoid outages, in exchange for lower electricity bills.

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Instead of shoveling coal into the furnace, Ontario wants to go big with biomass. The province’s four coal-fired power plants are set to be phased out by 2014, but why let those plants go to waste when they could keep on working, but with lower emissions?

Government-owned Ontario Power Generation said this week that it’s looking to get pricing information from suppliers to help plan the potential switch, and OPG put out an official Request For Expressions of Interest for the supply of biomass. The power group plans to only use renewable biomass sources — that is, biomass from sustainable forest-based and non-food agricultural products and by-products, but not from waste material. We’ve updated our coal deathwatch map.

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Is the recession over? Someone must think so, because Changing World Technologies, a West Hempstead, N.Y.-based biofuel developer, is moving forward with plans for an initial public offering, setting terms at 2.8 million shares for $11 to $15 per share.

In its latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Changing World said it has a small-scale facility in Carthage, Mo., that uses a thermal conversion process to make biodiesel, as well as some fertilizer, out of animal and food processing waste. The Carthage plant, the company’s only production facility, has the capacity to convert 78,000 tons of waste into 4-9 million gallons of biodiesel per year, depending on the feedstock mix.

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When the Big Three auto executives drove away from Capitol Hill last month, they left a trail of buzz about the electrification of the auto industry. GM’s plug-in hybrid Volt, which the company says will enter production in less than a year, and Chrysler’s proposed portfolio of electric vehicles assumed starring roles in the automakers’ pitch for federal aid. So it was little surprise that this week’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit kicked off with plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles in the spotlight. But has the Detroit show revealed an industry revving up for renaissance with its 2010 lineups, or stuck in neutral — years away from commercializing electric vehicle technology?

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Energy management technology got a leg up with startup Sentilla announcing that it raised $7.5 million in a second round of funding. The company, which pulled in the new financing from Onset Ventures and Claremont Creek Ventures, said the cash will go toward further development of its wireless sensor network and to expand its global operations.

Sentilla, based in Redwood City, Calif., is working on a wireless sensor network for demand-side energy management for commercial and industrial facilities, as well as for safety, security and logistics applications. The chips can help companies save on their energy costs by tracking and reporting power use at the equipment level, turning the equipment into a smart device.

The company uses a Java-based software platform running on a low-power, wireless chip about the size of a dime, which Sentilla says can be put anywhere or attached to anything. By using the popular Java platform, the company says new applications for its chips can be developed in days, rather than months.

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Greening product lines and reducing carbon footprints is clearly a point of pride for tech companies — so much so that it’s got Dell’s competitive juices flowing. In the wake of Apple’s claims that its latest Macbook is the world’s greenest notebook, Dell decided to do an Apple smackdown on its blog this morning. “Apple hasn’t stated any goals, just made claims, which as far as we can tell, are not accurate,” writes Dell V-P of Communities & Conversations (nice title) Bob Pearson.

Ooh, harsh. Pearson says that the blog post is a reaction to the fact that some of the Dell folks were “surprised and perplexed” after seeing Apple’s new green laptop ad and decided they wanted to have a discussion about “the real meaning of being green.” Apple is skipping important green actions and goals, he writes — such as offering free recycling for consumers or making its operations carbon neutral, both things Dell has done — and instead touting green ads. In his own words:

We don’t recall Apple joining the conversation about the environment, either via key conferences or the blogosphere or via reporter meetings…Don’t skip this step and go right to ads that may not even be truthful…We wish Apple would be more bold in making a difference rather than making ads. If they do both, then fantastic, run all the ads you want.

President-elect Barack Obama and once-presidential-hopeful Al Gore met today to discuss (what else) “energy, climate change, and job creation — and how those three things go together.” Obama didn’t say what role Gore will play in his administration but pledged that the former VP will be part of the plan to “create jobs all across this country in all 50 states to re-power America.” The meeting, reportedly called at Gore’s request, is perhaps the strongest pitch Obama will get from the cleantech community.

Gore has outlined a five-step plan to achieve his goal of generating 100 percent of the U.S.’s electricity from renewable sources in 10 years. Though Obama hasn’t agreed to Gore’s lofty goal, he has committed, in varying degrees, to implementing Gore’s recommendations. Obama has promised to boost the energy efficiency of federal buildings, work with governors to promote clean energy, invest huge amounts in our electrical infrastructure and help Detroit retool to become a leader in green cars.

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After a year peppered with construction slowdowns, bio-refinery idlings, and more than a dozen bankruptcy filings in the corn ethanol industry, we have an early indicator of how it will shape up post-shakeout — with significantly less cozy alliances between grain growers and ethanol producers.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court handling ethanol giant VeraSun Energy’s restructuring gave final approval this week for $196.6 million in loans (about $7 million more than the company said it needed to make payroll) that will allow it to continue operations. VeraSun also said the approved debtor-in-possession, or DIP, financing will come from lenders that made loans to the company before it filed for Chapter 11 in October — an arrangement that gives them priority over all other claims.

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China’s Yingli Green Energy today announced new supply contracts with Germany’s IBC Solar; it also clarified its 2009 shipment outlook after one of its executives apparently gave out some wrong numbers earlier this week.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Yingli expects its shipments of solar modules to reach 400 MW next year, well below Yingli’s previously stated target of 600 MW. Reuters attributed its info to Cherradi Nabih, Yingli’s vice president for manufacturing, who chatted with the wire service on the sidelines of a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Hong Kong.

Yingli didn’t mention the Reuters story in its statement today, saying only that it was responding to “certain recent news articles.” But while Yingli called the lower number erroneous, the solar firm also backed away from its firm 600 MW target, saying instead that it estimates its total photovoltaic module shipments for 2009 will range from 550 MW to 600 MW. Yingli added that the shipment target is subject to the successful installation and ramp-up of its planned 200 MW expansion in the third quarter of 2009.

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The World Economic Forum has released their annual list of Technology Pioneers for 2009, and out of 34 pioneering companies, 11 of them are cleantech firms. Among them are companies that are building utility-scale solar and smart grid technologies, energy-reducing sensor networks, methane emission-reductions programs, recycling programs and efficient lighting tools. That’s what we like to see! Here they are:

BrightSource Energy: Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy is one of the leaders in the utility-scale solar industry, and is working on building a massive 400MW solar farm in the Mojave Desert. The company has raised over $115 million from investors like update: VantagePoint Venture Partners Kleiner Perkins, Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, and StatoilHydro. California’s PG&E has signed a deal for potentially 900 MW of solar farms with BrightSource.

Current Group: Current makes smart grid technology, including software for sensor networks that can monitor and manage the grid. The Germantown, Md.-based company was founded in 2000 and investors include EnerTech Capital, Google, Goldman Sachs, and Liberty Associated Partners.

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