IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility magazine, an Energy Central publication today announced the results of the annual UtiliQ rankings – a joint study designed to cut through the smart grid hype and provide benchmarks for measuring the progress utilities are making on the path to intelligent energy. For the second straight year, Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric is the most intelligent utility in America, according to the annual UtiliQ survey of U.S. electric utilities.

"It's clear that the $11 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for smart grid activities, has contributed considerably toward increasing utility intelligence during 2010," said Jill Feblowitz, practice director, Utilities and Oil and Gas IT Strategies at IDC Energy Insights. "Many of the utilities that received ARRA awards last fall are contributing more to their smart grid projects than the required 50/50 match. Projects making use of ARRA funds helped some of the award recipients move up in this year's UtiliQ rankings. However, our research has shown that even without ARRA funding many utilities are taking a variety of intelligent approaches to managing the grid and serving up the benefits of new technologies to the customer."

The UtiliQ ranking uses five criteria to evaluate utilities: operational efficiency, commitment to integrating renewables, smart energy initiatives, demand response/energy efficiency programs, and information technology investments in support of business process improvements. All but three of the top 25 intelligent utilities received "near genius" scores in smart grid IQ, indicating the importance of smart grid developments for achieving utility intelligence.

The top 5 scoring utilities for the 2010 UtiliQ rankings:

1. Sempra Energy's San Diego Gas & Electric
2. Austin Energy
3. PG&E Corporation
4. FPL Group, Inc. (now NextEra)
5. NV Energy, Inc

Compared to last year's study, the 2010 UtiliQ report collected more comprehensive data from authoritative industry sources, including SNL Energy, FERC, AWEA, NREL and EEI. An intelligent grid study conducted last fall by IDC added significant depth to the UtiliQ analysis.