Microsoft, Whirlpool Execs to Be Featured Panelists at KEMA Utility of the Future Executive Conference

Microsoft and Whirlpool Corporation executives will participate in discussions at the KEMA second annual Utility of the Future executive conference June 17-19, 2009 in Washington DC.

Microsoft and Whirlpool Corporation are each developing advanced consumer-based technologies and applications that will change the way customers interact with their electric utilities. Microsoft has been working with its partner ecosystem to develop and deploy online software applications that will provide near real-time energy consumption information and enhance customer contact experiences. Whirlpool Corporation is innovating smart appliances that will connect with SmartGrid technology to better manage home energy use by making energy consumption visible to customers. Combined with emerging Home Area Networking (HAN) technologies, these information technology (IT) innovations will empower utility customers of the future to make more informed, efficient energy-use decisions.

Microsoft’s Larry Kuhl, manager of Worldwide Utilities business development and alliances, and Whirlpool’s Henry Marcy, vice president of technology, will join other innovators as part of the Utility of the Future conference “Customer Focus” panel. They will discuss what the smart grid and the utility of the future mean in terms of product and service innovations for utilities and their customers.

“At Microsoft, our goal is to make every customer touch point matter,” says Kuhl. “We do this by helping utilities create valuable customer relationships by improving their experiences across multiple interaction channels – phone, e-mail, chat and web – combining disparate information from different applications into one view to optimize each customer interaction.”

“We recently announced that all electronically controlled appliances made by Whirlpool Corporation anywhere in the world will be SmartGrid compatible by 2015,” says Dr. Henry Marcy, vice president of technology for Whirlpool Corporation. “This is a critical step forward in creating a demand response environment in which energy reduction is systematically controlled across 10,000's of homes at a time, providing automatic energy reduction without any inconvenience to consumers. In addition, overall energy generation would be made more effective as utilities could run at optimum output and avoid purchasing spinning reserves which lowers costs and significantly reduces carbon emissions.”

The KEMA Utility of the Future executive conference, “Navigating sustainability,” will gather senior executives from across the energy and utility industry to discuss the changing rules and relationships underlying the transformation of the energy future. Discussions will cover regulatory and policy directions, operating a smart grid infrastructure, developments in generation, energy storage, plug-in vehicles, and implications for utility products and customers.

To register and for more information about the KEMA Utility of the Future executive conference, visit: www.kemaforums.com/thefuture.

About Whirlpool

Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances with annual sales of approximately $19 billion and more than 73,000 employees. Whirlpool brand recognizes that consumers lead busy, active lives and continues to create solutions that help consumers optimize productivity in the home.

About KEMA

Founded in 1927, KEMA (www.kema.com) is a global provider of business and technical consulting, operational support, measurement and inspection, testing and certification for the energy and utility industry. KEMA employs more than 1,800 professionals in 20 countries. The firm’s North American consulting operations (KEMA, Inc.) are headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts. KEMA’s global headquarters are in Arnhem, the Netherlands with offices worldwide.