The COVID-19-driven energy flow shift toward the residential sector added urgency to the energy industry’s digital transformation. In 2021, stakeholders understand that remote customer engagement (RCE), which inherently relies on virtual interaction and embraces digitization, will likely last well beyond the pandemic. Opportunities for RCE primarily target residential customers and include revamped home energy reports (HERs), remote audits, and thermal mapping. These solutions are matched by developments, such as augmented reality (AR), designed to remotely engage commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. This report explores how emerging digital opportunities are expected to expand following the pandemic and recommends that utilities and their partners position themselves for a virtually engaged customer of the future.

Inherent in true RCE is the absence of workers and electricians present on end-customers’ properties to interconnect complex DER ecosystems to the utility grid. Remote engagement strategies take advantage of those devices already present. Where there is an absence of DER, RCE strategies can catalyze the customer journey and demonstrate the benefits of relevant DER-related solutions from smart thermostats to fleet electrification and automated behind-the-meter (BTM) asset management.

CLICK HERE to read more or purchase the report.

PLMA Members receive a 10% discount on this report. If you are interested in purchasing and are a PLMA member, contact Brett Feldman at [email protected].

Industry veterans join Strategy, Sales and Regulatory teams

BALTIMORE – March 24, 2021 — CPower Energy Management (“CPower”), a leading energy solutions provider, today announced six new hires to extend the company’s authority and position in Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). CPower helps commercial and industrial customers maximize the profitability and sustainability of their energy resources, while ensuring utilities and regulators maintain grid resiliency and reliability.

The new CPower team members will help:

Expand the company’s expertise in energy storage, electric vehicles and other DERs, as well as help its customers plan for FERC Order 2222 planning and compliance:

• Ben Pickard – Vice President, Corporate Development: Brings more than 15 years of experience in investing, strategy, and new business creation at multiple scales in distributed and renewable energy, utilities, real estate and industrials.
  
  
• Darren Hammell – Director, Energy Storage: Specializes in renewable microgrids, distributed generation, electric vehicles and energy storage. Previous co-founder of Princeton Power Systems, advisor and teacher at Princeton University.

Amplify customer needs and expertise within critical industry verticals that are informing the evolution of electricity markets:

• Ed Toppi – Vice President, Sales Operations: Brings more than 20 years of experience in the electricity industry—from generation to competitive retail supply to distributed energy resources and emerging energy technologies in deregulated markets. Served as a key member of the Customized Energy Solutions management team since 2006.
  
  
• KC Mares, Director, Industry Strategy – Data Centers: Brings more than 20 years experience helping to design, build and operate the lowest cost and most efficient data centers in 20 countries, and recently led factory engineering and battery production engineering for Tesla.

Ensure energy user and grid operator alignment with rapidly evolving market and regulatory dynamics that will help shape the future of the grid:

• Kenneth Schisler – Vice President, Regulatory Affairs: Offers executive, regulatory and government affairs experience as Former Chairman of the Maryland Public Services Commission and market development and regulatory affairs executive for EnerNOC, Enel X and Vicinity Energy.
  
  
• Nancy Chafetz – Senior Director, Regulatory and Government Affairs – New England: Brings more than 15 years of experience in the regulatory arena, with deep expertise in the New England electricity markets. Served on the leadership team for the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) from 2017 through 2020 in her role as Head of New England Wholesale Regulatory Policy at Direct Energy and prior to that, Director of Market Intelligence at Customized Energy Solutions.

“By adding six industry veterans to our Energy Storage, Sales and Regulatory teams, we’re expanding the expertise of CPower’s core practice areas. Our newest hires will help us more effectively facilitate our commercial and industrial customers’ DER adoption and demand-side management program participation; driving superior economics while supporting a cleaner and more reliable grid,” said John Horton, president and CEO, CPower.

CLICK HERE to learn more about CPower’s full team of industry experts.

Toronto, Ontario – March 24, 2021 – Opus One Solutions, a leading provider of distributed energy resource (DER), planning, management, and transactive energy market software, and a Global Cleantech 100 company, has acquired the SEEsuite software business division, including SEEload from TRC Companies to further expand Opus One’s GridOS® Distributed Energy Management Platform. TRC is a global leading technology-enabled provider of engineering, consulting and construction management solutions.

SEEload is a scalable Demand Response solution built to optimize load management, for diverse customer segments including several of the largest utilities in the United States. SEEload has been handling distributed energy resources on the grid across multiple utilities for over a decade. The software allows utilities to unlock localized solutions at the grid edge, with behind the meter assets including smart thermostats, solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and battery storage, providing utilities with a broader set of generation and supply alternatives. Access to these assets offers the ability to incorporate them into various programs, which can provide important benefits such as managing energy use, decreasing carbon emissions, reducing customers’ energy bills, and participation in wholesale and potential local energy and flexibility markets.

Opus One’s existing Distributed Energy Management Platform specializes in grid power flow management, hosting capacity, optimal dispatch, and smart pricing leading to transactive/flexibility markets. With the integration of SEEload, Opus One will now be able to provide utility partners with end-to-end visibility, control and program management, from the substation to the grid edge, across the entire customer spectrum.

CLICK HERE to read the full press release.

Solar-powered home batteries in New York City homes will help strengthen grid reliability and defer construction of new energy infrastructure

LOS ANGELES - Energy and smart grid solutions provider Swell Energy (Swell) today announced the start of a residential solar plus storage program for homeowners in Queens, New York. The program will be deployed in partnership with Con Edison, the energy company that serves New York City, and aims to deliver solar-powered home batteries to eligible customers creating an aggregated network of distributed energy resources.

New York State is targeting 3,000 megawatts (MW) of installed energy storage capacity by 2030 and a zero-emissions electricity sector by 2040. Con Edison’s Non-Wires Solutions procurement efforts, which include the Swell program, are in support of these State targets. The program will help reduce demand and relieve stress on the electric grid during peak demand periods without additional energy infrastructure construction and upgrades. As several hundred households in a condensed service area require less power during peak periods due to Swell’s solar plus storage installations, Con Edison can strengthen reliability for all customers.

Participating homeowners will have the opportunity to earn incentives that lower the cost of clean, reliable solar plus storage systems. Residents of Forest Park, Glendale, Hunters Point, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Sunnyside, and parts of adjacent neighborhoods in Queens can now reserve their spot in the program.

“Swell Energy’s smart grid solutions are designed to simultaneously meet the needs of utilities and customers through the aggregation of solar-powered home batteries. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with Con Edison to make our vision of Swell’s NYC Virtual Power Plant a reality for New Yorkers,” said Suleman Khan, CEO of Swell Energy.

Con Edison customers who may be eligible to participate can learn more and reserve a spot in the program by visiting www.swellenergy.com/Queens.

About Swell Energy, Inc.
Swell Energy is creating a greater grid for the greater good. The energy management and smart grid solutions provider is accelerating the mass adoption of distributed clean energy technologies by making it easy for consumers to take control of their energy use, achieve energy security and save costs. The company provides homeowners and businesses with financing and educational resources and partners with trusted local solar and solar+storage companies for seamless, high-quality product installations. By creating a critical mass of dynamic and responsive clean energy resources within utility service areas across the United States, Swell Energy is also delivering resilient virtual power plant networks and grid-balancing services to utilities, which are fundamental to our future, carbon-free, distributed renewable energy system. Learn more at www.swellenergy.com.

Contacts
Camille Cater
Antenna Group for Swell Energy
[email protected]
551-225-1478