Acorn Energy Announces GridSense™ & OMNIMETRIX to Unite Under the Leadership of Joe Musanti and Names Richard Rimer Executive Vice President

WILMINGTON, Del., July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Acorn Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACFN), today announced that Joe Musanti will be named President and CEO of a new Acorn division focusing on the M2M space. Acorn M2M will operate both the GridSense^TM and OMNIMETRIX business lines.  Based on the strength of Musanti's leadership and success at GridSense, Acorn has decided to leverage the engineering and marketing activities of GridSense and OMNIMETRIX into a single operating division.  GridSense and OMNIMETRIX will continue to report operating results in their own respective segments.

Mr. Musanti was named President and CEO of GridSense in May 2013 and of OmniMetrix earlier this month.  He was previously named COO/CFO of GridSense in January 2013, following his resignation from the Acorn Energy Board of Directors, where he served from September 2007 until December 2012. Acorn believes that under the leadership of Musanti, the new division will become a powerful M2M player targeting both grid reliability and power assurance.  This decision will allow Musanti to exploit synergies that exist in multiple administrative functions between both companies and accelerate the path to market for the products, and more aggressively achieve critical mass. 

In conjunction with this change the Acorn Energy Board of Directors has named Richard Rimer as Executive Vice President of Acorn Energy. Mr. Rimer has served on the Acorn Energy Board of Directors since 2006 and was named Vice Chairman of Acorn Energy in 2012 a position he held until his election as EVP.  Rimer is a successful entrepreneur with broad experience investing in early-stage businesses. Following three years at McKinsey & Co. in Zurich, Mr. Rimer built a joint-venture in Holland which he successfully sold. Rimer went on to found MediService – one of Europe's leading mail service pharmacies – and then spearheaded its sale to Galenica in 2007. Prior to founding Top Quartile Partners, Mr. Rimer - from 2001 to 2006 - was a Partner in Geneva at Index Ventures – a top-decile venture capital firm managing over $3Bn.

Mr. Rimer currently serves as Chairman for both GridSense and OMNIMETRIX and will continue with those duties. 

Harold Jarrett, CTO and founder of OMNIMETRIX, will continue to play a key ongoing role ensuring the smooth transition and long term engineering continuity.  OMNIMETRIX's local leadership team is committed to work closely with Mr. Musanti. Acorn is enthusiastic about the prospects for the new division, its combined leadership and anticipates improved results for both product lines once the process is complete.  Acorn Energy and the team at OMNIMETRIX would like to thank Deena Redding, former CEO, for her services and efforts to transition leadership to Mr. Musanti.

"I am very impressed with the depth of the management team currently in place. Acorn M2M is well positioned to take advantage of a paradigm shift occurring in the market -- taking maintenance from a time-based to a condition-based offering. Evolving monitoring of critical energy infrastructure from the clipboard to 2-way data communication is essential for power assurance, grid reliability and increasingly air pollution regulation," stated Joe Musanti, President and CEO.

John Moore, CEO of Acorn Energy stated: "We are confident that under Joe's leadership, the team will drive growth and performance in the business."

About OMNIMETRIX, LLC

OMNIMETRIX, LLC, the world leader in remote on-site power generation monitoring provides expert capabilities in the design and development of wireless field devices and internet-connected data management systems. This includes microprocessor-based, miniature, on-machine field equipment, fully redundant SQL-based data management, and web-delivered equipment status pages.  In addition, its pipeline corrosion protection line is led by the Computer Automated Test Station which works hand-in-hand with the OMNIMETRIX Pipe-to-Soil Monitor and Rectifier Monitor creating a comprehensive and the most technologically advanced wireless corrosion protection monitoring system available.  For more information visit: http://www.omnimetrix.net

About GridSense™

GridSense™ is a smart grid technology company dedicated to providing innovative, practical and cost effective monitoring solutions to the electric power industry. Utilizing in-depth industry knowledge and understanding of utility requirements, it provides technology and services that help the industry address the limitations of old and aging infrastructure. GridSense applies experience and technical know-how with new insight and ideas to create intelligent, reliable and leading edge technologies that add value to its customers and shape the future of the modern electrical power system.  For more information visit: http://www.gridsense.com

About Acorn Energy, Inc.

Acorn Energy, Inc. is a holding company whose four portfolio companies help their customers achieve greater productivity, reliability, security, and efficiency—factors which can lead to greater profitability.  US Seismic supplies fiber-optic sensing solutions to increase oil/gas production and lower costs. GridSense^TM provides monitoring for all critical points along the electricity delivery system. OMNIMETRIX remotely monitors emergency back-up power generation systems to increase their reliability. DSIT provides security solutions from underwater threats to naval and marine based energy assets.  For more information visit: http://www.acornenergy.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. There is no assurance that Acorn Energy, Inc. or its operating companies will continue to grow their respective businesses, or that any of them will meet the expectations or execute the initiatives described or referred to above. A complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties which may affect Acorn Energy's business generally and the businesses of its subsidiaries is included in "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investor & Press Contact:

F. Kent Leacock
Acorn Energy, Inc.
VP External Affairs
(925) 698-1431
kleacock@acornenergy.com

Company Contact: 
Joe Musanti
President & CEO
(916) 372-9145 
j.musanti@gridsense.com 

SOURCE Acorn Energy, Inc.