In June, overall Smart Grid sentiment hit an eight-month high (76%). Only 19% of executives surveyed expect utility Smart Grid investments to significantly increase over the next 12 months. Forty-eight percent of all respondents said they expect Smart Grid hiring to increase over the next 12 months. Forty-seven percent of the vendors surveyed closed a new deal last month (also an eight-month high), while 84% of utilities expect to submit new Smart Grid proposals for budget approval.

The average sales volume among vendors who closed deals last month was $2.12 million, down significantly from $11.03 million in May.

Seventeen percent of utilities surveyed said they expect to spend between $5.0 million and $10.0 on smart meters million over the next 12 months.

Overall, the data show strong industry support for smart grid projects and technologies, but the past two months of data signal that the size of expected investments may not be as large as they were a year or two ago. Therefore, individual utility spending budgets may decrease, on average, but the aggregate amount of utility spending will increase as more utilities start to deploy smart grid technology.

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