Nasdaq OMX, Clean Edge launch Smart Grid index

The Nasdaq OMX Group has teamed up with cleantech publishing firm Clean Edge to launch a new Smart Grid Infrastructure Index to track companies working toward a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid from meter makers to storage and demand response providers.
In order to access this information, users must go through Nasdaq OMX Global Index Watch. The site has over 2,000 indexes tracking companies across all categories.
The index is intended to attract more attention the issues and players involved in the Smart Grid’s development. The government has been placing a lot of emphasis on this area recently, offering government grants to utility companies looking to modernize their systems. Consumers, too, have started to sit up and notice, expressing more interest in what their utilities are doing to lower power-related emissions and conserving energy on one hand, and eager to slash their electricity bills on the other.
The new index is targeted at investors who want to ride this wave — allowing them to easily view and monitor Smart Grid companies so that they can make more informed financial decisions. It might even encourage some investors to back companies in the space that may not have otherwise, the Nasdaq and Clean Edge say. Just like the overall Nasdaq, the data presented will be updated in real time. Today, it’s value was 250.00.
This isn’t the first time Nasdaq  OMX has created an index focused on the cleantech sector. It is also developing similar directories for investors interested in renewable energy, advanced transportation and other energy management startups, the exchange company says. Clean Edge’s involvement is unclear — except that the firm helps select which companies should be included in the index. So far there are 29. Here are the names listed in the press release announcing the news:
American Superconductor
Comverge
Echelon
EnerNOC
ESCO Technologies
General Cable
ITC Holdings
Itron
Jinpan International
NGK Insulators
Pike Electric
Power-One
Quanta Services
RuggedCom
SatCon Technology
Schneider Electric
SMA Solar Technology
ABB
Advanced Energy Industries
Cooper Industries
Digi International
General Electric
Intellon
MasTec
National Grid
Siemens
Telvent
Valmont Industries
Wesco International
VentureBeat is hosting GreenBeat, the seminal executive conference on the Smart Grid, on Nov. 18-19, featuring keynotes from Nobel Prize winner Al Gore and Kleiner Perkins’ John Doerr. Get your early-bird tickets for $495 before Sept. 30 at GreenBeat2009.com.