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Remember Beacon Power, that startup using 2,800-pound flywheels to cut noxious emissions? Well, three years later, the company is wrapping up construction of its first plant, a 20-megawatt operation that just happens to be the world's largest. The Stephentown, NY facility is home to 200 of these flywheels, which store and output energy as needed, essentially matching the power supply with the demands of the grid. The result, the company promises, is reduced energy waste and stable electrical frequencies hovering around 60Hz. And while the plant's already up and running at 18 megawatts, it won't be until later this month that Beacon finishes building it out so that it reaches its full capacity. Full PR and champagne-popping celebration plans after the break. Beacon Power's Stephentown, NY flywheel plant    CNET  

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance already wants to tether your entire household to the Internet, and it may soon extend its reach to your garage, as well. At Computex today, the company announced that Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen  have all agreed to support its HomePlug Green PHY (GP) technology as their EV charging interface of choice. The networking specification would allow electric car owners to link their plug-ins to the Smart Grid via the same ports used to charge their batteries, opening up new, Powerline-based possibilities. Once your EV hooks up to the network, it may be able to conduct system checks in real-time, for instance, or provide instant feedback on performance or the condition of your battery. The low power GP spec will also be interoperable with HomePlug's forthcoming AV2 spec, though it's still not clear when we can expect to see Germany's automakers incorporate it into production. SlashGear

Today at 3:00pm EST Microsoft and Toyota are holding a little webcast and, while they're staying mum on just what the topic of discussion will be, we're hearing they've been having some heart-to-hearts about making dumb power grids a little smarter. The details naturally are yet to be unveiled, but we're presuming it'll be similar to what Microsoft and Ford have worked on for the Focus Electric, technology that enables the car to know when rates are cheapest and only charge up then, also providing detailed data on the car's power consumption. The Tesla-powered RAV4 EV will be Toyota's first pure electric vehicle, and while it surely won't be as invigorating to drive as the similarly Tesla-powered Roadster, thanks to Microsoft maybe it'll be a little smarter. It'll certainly be cheaper. Update : Sure enough. Toyota and Microsoft have announced a ¥1 billion (about $12 million) deal to extend Microsoft's telematics wizardry (which ...