Software and infrastructure provider Oracle has snapped up struggling smart grid software business Opower, for $532m – around half Opower’s IPO price of April 2014. The acquisition will expand Oracle’s utilities-focused business, as the company tries to transition into a software and services business across the foundational verticals that comprise the IoT. Opower has had to repeatedly cut costs to stay afloat, scrapping its fledgling smart thermometer project that would have provided utilities with a piece of CPE that would facilitate demand-response control – a process that allows a utility to control the power consumption of devices inside the home in order to more efficiently balance grid load, in exchange for a cheaper electricity tariff for the consumer. Now Opower…