Renewable energy management company GridPoint said Tuesday it raised $9 million in venture capital funding, amid growing investor enthusiasm for clean energy as fossil fuel prices remain high.

The money is the first tranche of a $15-million second round of funding that GridPoint plans to close in January. Investors included Advantage Capital Partners in New Orleans, as well as a number of individuals.

GridPoint plans to use the money to increase production and marketing for its appliances.

“This level of funding indicates the mainstream adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies,” said GridPoint CEO Peter L. Corsell.

GridPoint raised its first round of $1.8 million from 33 private investors in 2004.

The company said it has begun shipping a system to manage renewable energy, called GridPoint Connect, for which it has taken orders since September. The system helps convert energy from solar, wind, and other sources into usable electricity, and automatically sells excess electricity to utilities at opportune times.

But its highly anticipated product, GridPoint Protect, will launch in January, the company said.

GridPoint has developed a system to monitor power usage at the circuit box, providing data about peak usage times and about how much energy separate appliances consume.

A battery stores residual energy, which the system buys when prices are low and sells back when they go up, saving 10 to 15 percent on the overall investment.

Using software and communications with GridPoint’s network operations center, the energy management system can use weather forecasts, as well as time-based pricing, to make decisions about when to buy or sell.

And because the system stores energy, it also acts as a backup battery when the power goes out.

Preventing Blackouts

One day, Mr. Corsell said the system could even be used to prevent blackouts. Utilities could use the network to partner with GridPoint’s customers, defraying power shortages by buying back power from generators.

Overall, the company said it expects to sell about 2,000 systems next year, adding up to about $15 million in sales.

As the U.S. electrical grid ages, blackouts have become common. Research firm Primen, now a division of EPRI Solutions in Knoxville, Tennessee, estimates the annual cost of power outages and fluctuations at between $119 billion and $188 billion yearly.

So it’s no wonder that businesses are seeing potential in helping others stave off those losses. Aside from GridPoint, companies like State Estimator, Fat Spaniel, and EleQuant develop components for monitoring the electric system.