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1/11/2021 Who is Working on Your Data Requests? (2nd in a series of 3, because UAPI is *still* growing)UtilityAPI is growing, but we’re still a compact organization. Every new person we hire has a noticeable effect on who we are as a company. Strong hires are key to our success, and thus, to yours. Meet our latest great hire, Kaleb Smart. Want to talk to someone about getting high quality data for your clean energy projects? Contact us!  Kaleb Smart, Sr. Software Engineer It’s tempting to make a little joke about names and destiny. But while true in this case, that’s simply not the most noticeable thing about Kaleb Smart, UtilityAPI’s new Senior Software Engineer. It’s his unique blend of leadership laced with kindness. There’s so much power there. Kaleb isn’t afraid to step in and claim it. Kaleb went to the University of Alabama, Huntsville (UAH), hoping to study computer science. UAH is known as Alabama’s aerospace engineering program, a feeder school to NASA. But to high school-aged Kaleb, it seemed like they also had a strong computer science program. It turns out they really only taught software engineering, so that’s what he studied, in addition to math and Russian. No one Kaleb knew was going to UAH. So when he got to campus he did the thing he is known for — he stepped up as a leader to organize social activities that introduced like-minded students to each other. “From basically anywhere I’ve been, I’ve tried to organize after seeing a void of a particular thing,” Kaleb affirmed. Like many who find their way to software development, one of the things that most interested him at the time was PC gaming. Once a semester, his group organized a gaming night. They rented the event center and invited all interested students to come. The biannual events were always a high success, so, with Kaleb’s help, they set their sights a notch higher — why not meet more often? His group ended up creating a series of individual gaming clubs that brought people together on Tuesday nights for gaming nights. Students brought their laptops. Only it turned out that some couldn’t participate, because they didn’t own a personal computer. That wouldn’t do. Kaleb’s group requested and got money from the University to buy computers, download games and have them ready for people to use. From there, they wrangled their own space, dedicated to PC and console gaming. The space teemed with people from different social groups, intermingling, having a great time. Besides the fun and friends, it’s the power of community that Kaleb remembers. “UAH’s administration saw that there were a lot of students interested. They were like, yeah, let’s give them more money. That you can get something as stingy as a university to spend money on you, that shows there’s power there.” These days, when he’s not organizing the real world into someplace kinder and more friendly, he can often be found organizing rounds of Dungeons and Dragons, which also gives him an outlet for his interest in improvisational acting and art. “As a dungeon master, I was very into miniature painting. I’d spend a lot of time painting 3d models I had printed. Because of COVID, we don’t get to play in person anymore. My art supplies are in storage. But we still play online.” In addition to spending his time fighting climate change through the exchange of data at UtilityAPI, Kaleb does a lot of tutoring and mentoring. “That eureka moment when someone actually gets something. That look on their face. That awe of curiosity and inspiration… it’s the best.”
 Congratulations for making it through 2020, everyone. I’m claiming it!
And thank you, everyone, for your continued commitment to Edict's mission to bring measurable progress in diversity and inclusion to clean tech. Many of you have responded with ideas for connections and resources. Thank you for being an enthusiastic part of this effort! We envision this to be a community of practice Your response to our launch this past summer has fueled our dedication this past fall to finding a home for this movement that can catalyze Edict into a community of practice where we will take action together, support each other on implementation, and track progress along the way. Our vision is for this to be a fully functioning community of practice for our companies to share information and build on each others’ knowledge as we operationalize what it takes to build a diverse workforce at our startups. Edict’s new home: Elemental Excelerator While we’re still looking for funding partners so that we can staff this effort, we have news to share with more info to come in the new year! In partnership with Elemental Excelerator, through their Equity & Access track, we will move forward with Edict as a new community of practice for any 'climate-tech company' working across energy, food/ag, mobility, water, and circular economy. The mission of Elemental's Equity & Access track is to leverage climate startups for social equity and we're excited to operationalize this through this new initiative. One small ask: Can you host an intern next year? As with all things, Edict will continue to evolve. Pending funding for staff, our first initiative will be in partnership with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) to support BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) internship placement in 2021. Through this program,CELI will recruit and provide cohort support, mentorship, and clean energy training to prospective interns throughout their placement. More on this soon. In the meantime, we’re assembling a list of companies to help us in our funding conversations. Our goals:
Hope this winter holiday allows time to rest & re-energize, Devin & the Elemental team UtilityAPI is a mission-driven company. And that mission is fighting climate change. Likewise for WeRenew, a platform that uses UtilityAPI data to include more people in this work. We’re proud to share their story, and to power the efforts of the 70% of you — property owners or renters, low income/underserved communities as well as your wealthier neighbors — who share this mission with us.  Fifteen years ago, the science on climate change was clear. We just needed to get the policies worked out to fix it. Fast forward to now. Spoiler alert: not fixed. Good people are still working on the important policies. We need.those policies. But have you ever wondered what else people who cared could do to help? You’re in good company. The 2009 Yale Climate Change Communication Study found that 70% of Americans are concerned about climate change. But they don't know what to do about it. There’s a gap between the amount the public is interested in climate change and their knowledge of how to start solving it. Lisa Altieri, who had 20 years experience organizing and protesting on behalf of climate and the environment outside of her day jobs, chose to wade into that gap as a full-time job. And to try to close it. “I decided to stop arguing with climate change deniers and instead, go talk to the 70% who wanted to do something.” She built WeRenew.net, a free online platform available to all — individuals, groups, organizations, businesses, counties, cities — to give all those people who wanted to do something a place to start. Her background in community organizing told her that any solution would work better if users worked in groups — teams of households, cities, businesses, Girl Scout troops. WeRenew also allows groups to compete against one another, if they so choose. But how much impact can individual people taking action in concert with their friends, neighbors and community members make? Quite a lot, actually. 40% of the emissions that impact climate change come from five things we do or use every day:
The great news is that now, we have affordable solutions for all five of them, which was not true as recently as 5-10 years ago. If only people knew… cue Altieri and WeRenew. Altieri’s goal was to produce a platform that everyone could use, not just those wealthy enough to be able to afford expensive or complicated solutions. WeRenew generates options for people based on their own priorities, not hers. For example, which do they want more: to save money or to have a greater impact? How much upfront cost can they shoulder? How much effort can they put into the solutions (a little, some, or a lot)? But before WeRenew can work its magic, users first must make the choice on whether or not to add their utility data. When they do, they get a customized energy profile and customized suggestions for sustainability, reducing their impact, and their energy baseline. Where does the data to generate those profiles come from? UtilityAPI, of course! “Customers LOVE this,” Altieri shares. “And it’s so easy for them to do it. Then they get custom-recommended actions based on their goals.” Altieri is adamant that WeRenew is not just a toy for the wealthy. “We value low income and underserved frontline communities, too, including renters. Renters are able to control between 70-80% of their emissions, so they really matter. You get to pick your goals and your level of involvement and spending. The average household will save between $1-3K per year, while improving health and air quality. So there’s a lot of value for all levels of interest.”  Do you have a great story about how your company uses UtilityAPI data? Would you like us to profile your company or feature you in a case study? We'd love to hear about it.
Share your story with us and we'll enter you in our monthly drawing to win a UtilityAPI "share data, not germs" 100% cotton face mask. Customers are eager to fight climate change, starting in their own homes. Fort Collins Utilities, a municipal utility, gives its customers and contractors the easy, secure, authorized access to high quality energy data that they'll need to do it.
Getting a quote for a solar installation, electric vehicle charger or energy efficiency upgrade has typically been an exercise in frustration for both customers and contractors alike. But last month, Fort Collins Utilities launched MyData, an innovative project with UtilityAPI that will make starting clean energy projects quicker and easier for everyone involved. The response from local energy solution providers and other users has been immediate and impressive. Following a soft launch in early fall, over a dozen companies have already signed up to use MyData in their businesses. Janelle McGill a “green” Realtor and consultant, is one of them. “As a Realtor that specializes in selling homes with solar, [...] I need the utility records to properly market properties and truthfully illustrate the benefits. In the past, it was cumbersome for my clients to get the information I needed. This portal makes the process faster, as well as accurate. It was easy to sign up and it is easy to request utility data for my clients. It is a clever solution,” said McGill. Most of MyData’s users will be clean energy contractors. Every clean energy project needs good energy data in order to happen. Previously, even if a customer authorized access to their utility billing and usage data, the data often took days, weeks or even months to arrive. And if/when it did arrive, it was often in an unusable form or missing key information. Solution providers had to rely on old energy bills or make large investments in software or staff time to decipher customer data — at times, as much as 6 extra staff hours per job. This can be particularly hard for small, local businesses that may not have the resources for this extra effort. Customers, whose clean energy projects became more expensive, were unhappy to bear those costs. And it was also problematic for Fort Collins, who didn’t want to act as a data intermediary between their own customers and those customers’ chosen contractors. MyData promises to fix everyone’s data problems. It will streamline the data process by providing instant, authorized and secure access to standardized energy data. It will also level the playing field for all service providers to participate in the market equally, which has taken on a new importance at this difficult time, when businesses are struggling to recover from the effects of COVID-19. “The ability to seamlessly share energy data is crucial to developing the future of the energy sector,” said UtilityAPI CEO Devin Hampton. “Fort Collins’ MyData is not just a ‘one-off’ thing. They’re leading the way for other municipal utilities. They’re using UtilityAPI’s data sharing tools to make the energy projects their customers want happen easier and faster. We look forward to replicating the success of this innovative service with other utilities across the country.” Fort Collins Utilities long-serving Energy Services Manager, John Phelan, identified the potential for secure data sharing to ease the clean energy transition in Fort Collins. “We recognized the importance of streamlining our information processes to support customers and their selected contractors. UtilityAPI’s solutions help us to do this while improving our data privacy, security and record keeping,” said Phelan. As an innovative municipal utility, Fort Collins understands that smoothing the path to local clean energy projects will help the local community and Colorado achieve the deep cuts to carbon emissions that are needed to make a significant impact on the climate crisis. Customers are eager to fight climate change (and save money while they’re doing it). Now, thanks to MyData, it’s even easier. 10/29/2020 The Zeal of the ConvertFast, Free, Easy to Access Data from SVCE’s Data Hive Wins Over a Holdout Cinnamon Energy Systems held off on using Silicon Valley Clean Energy’s Data Hive for a while. Their Director of Commercial Sales, Scott DuBois, confirmed as much. “We were slow to integrate. But all of the sudden, we saw the value.” Data Hive launched in April of 2020, just as Bay Area residents were waking up to the reality of their new sheltered-in-place, socially distant lives. All of the sudden, the days of ‘kitchen table’ solar sales were done. And with them, another casualty: the high quality customer interaction that had happened there, in those kitchens. Under the leadership of their CEO, Barry Cinnamon, Cinnamon Energy Systems re-framed the Data Hive as a tool that would take busywork off their plate, allowing them to prioritize interacting with the customers. “The Data Hive saves me 4-6 hours per customer,” said DuBois with relish. “You can text, email or use the phone to get an authorization. The flexibility is great.” Which is not to say that DuBois didn’t have some initial concerns. “One time, the data authorization request bounced. The user couldn’t open the data request. But that was because our team wasn’t executing properly. Also, it’s great that the customer doesn’t need their account number.” If DuBois has his way, Cinnamon Energy Systems won’t go back to the old ways anytime soon. “We have integrated Data Hive into the qualifying questions for both inside and outside sales. We send out the data request as part of our initial appointment. In my experience, it gives me everything I need in one place.” DuBois elaborated on one of our industry’s most basic facts: not having a bill can hold projects up. “I’d say 1 in 20 customers refuses to send you their electrical information. But the majority are open to it. The trust is great. Our customer base in some areas is older. A lot of them are in their mid 80s. I have stood next to them as they use their rotary phones to contact the utility companies. It still works, eventually! But I’m thinking ‘Oh my god, how do I collect your usage?’” “We have 20,000 legacy customers with solar. Their systems need updating. They need batteries. The interval data is incredibly helpful for battery projects. We also have large commercial projects in the works that will require us to go further out with data. We had one of our biggest months last month. We’re on the verge of adding more people.” “We’re going to be using you [Data Hive] a lot.” * * * About Cinnamon Energy Systems Cinnamon Energy Systems, “Silicon Valley's Premier Solar & Battery Storage Installer” has been designing and installing commercial and residential solar and battery storage systems for over 20 years. They take pride in their relationships with customers and the quality of their systems.  9/30/2020 Who is Working on Your Data Requests? UtilityAPI is growing, but we’re still a compact organization. Every new person we hire has a noticeable effect on who we are as a company. Strong hires are key to our success, and thus, to yours. Meet our latest strong hire, Yi-Ping Lai.
 The Clean Tech world does not look like America.
We in Clean Tech have failed to embrace the power that diversity in our teams can bring to the fight against climate change. Edict stands on the belief that diversity is good business. Diversity can lead us to new ideas and markets that we have overlooked, and bring better returns for our companies and ultimately, our planet. But at its core, Edict isn’t just a pronouncement of values. It’s a plan for action, for change. Edict will help member and sponsor companies make real, measurable progress in diversity and inclusion. Let’s think in terms of demand and supply. Edict demands diverse and inclusive voices at the decision-making tables in Clean Tech. And thus, Edict must begin the work by making sure there’s an adequate supply of those voices to strengthen teams across the clean energy ecosystem. To do this work, Edict is partnering with CELI, our industry’s not-for-profit leader in developing a pipeline of diverse leadership. Our three initial initiatives aren’t modest: Edict’s Plans Training new leaders Placing 25 college students from underrepresented backgrounds in paid summer internships Helping mid-career professionals transition to clean energy jobs Training and connecting 75 skilled professionals from underrepresented backgrounds with clean energy opportunities Building our community Doubling our current circle of around 30 member companies pledging to uphold the founding Edict Action Plan. These are big plans. And none of them can happen without you. If you can fund this work, we need you to sign on as a sponsor. If you can bring a diverse paid intern or mid-career hire onto your team, we need you to contact us. If your organization can commit to Edict’s founding principles, we need you to join us. Note: EnergyLab is based in Australia, thus their press release uses Australian spellings.  Thirteen of the world’s most promising late-stage clean energy startups are set to unlock growth and partnership opportunities after leading cleantech accelerator EnergyLab announced its inaugural Scaleup Program cohort today.
Built specifically to help accelerate high-impact clean energy startups in Australia and overseas, EnergyLab’s Scaleup Program will facilitate collaboration between fast-growing cleantech companies, energy utilities and other partner organisations. The program is backed by key energy stakeholders including the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), APA, Westpac, Powerlink, CS Energy, FRV, Counties Power, Nectr, Yurika and the International Microgrid Association. The thirteen companies selected to participate in the program have all demonstrated significant potential to develop and deploy technologies needed for the transition to 100 percent renewable energy. From hydrogen fuel cells to software for asset management and demand forecasting, their cleantech innovations were highlighted at a Scaleup Program launch event today. With the program now officially launched, each participating company begins a curated five-month journey to accelerate their growth through mentoring, access to advisors and facilitated collaboration and investment opportunities. Boosting the companies’ commercialisation capacity will be a key focus, with EnergyLab leveraging its expertise and network to help make strategic connections between startups and energy industry leaders, laying a critical foundation for impactful - and mutually beneficial - commercialisation pathways. Participating companies also gain access to legal and business support from EnergyLab partners Aperion Law and KPMG, respectively, enabling them to put their best foot forward as partnership opportunities arise. EnergyLab CEO James Tilbury said in a statement, “We’re optimistic about the potential impact our Scaleup Program will have. All the participants are high-quality companies positioned for growth, with strong strategic alignment with our partners. This, combined with our partners’ genuine commitment to innovate and collaborate, creates the perfect framework for rolling out new energy technologies.” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “It’s fantastic to see EnergyLab supporting 13 startups and companies in fast tracking their renewable energy technologies. Startups and entrepreneurs play a big part in developing and introducing new technologies that continue to make Australia one of the world leaders in renewable energy technology innovation. We’re also aware that startups can encounter many challenges when attempting to bring an idea to market and bridge the gap to commerciality, which is why EnergyLab’s scaleup program is so important going forward.” In addition to the program’s mentoring and business development benefits, participants will gain access to a uniquely global network within their cohort. A large number of international applications were received for the program, making it no surprise to see three overseas companies selected: hydrogen infrastructure specialist Hiringa Energy (New Zealand-based), demand forecasting company Amperon (USA-based) and utility data service UtilityAPI (also USA-based). Hannah McCaughey, APA’s Group Executive Transformation and Technology is enthusiastic about the benefit the program will deliver for the organisation: “The Scaleup Program provided APA a very efficient way to access a broad range of companies and innovative ideas. This is another great example of collaboration which will unlock potential for the industry and Australia.” McCaughey said. Each of the thirteen startups selected to join EnergyLab’s 2020 Scaleup Program cohort are listed below: Amperon (US) - Combines machine learning with deep energy and meteorology expertise to provide energy suppliers with best in class electricity demand forecasts. Aurtra - Assess, analyse and act to maximise transformer life with Aurtra HealthSense. Evergen - Evergen is a renewable energy software business that enables smarter energy by optimising energy storage systems and orchestrating large fleets of batteries to enable Virtual Power Plants. This ensures a resilient and decentralised energy system of the future and drives benefits for consumers, businesses, network operators and utilities. Everty - Provides a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform to companies installing Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure that enables them to monitor, manage and monetise their assets. Gridcognition - Planning and optimisation of distributed energy systems. Hiringa Energy (NZ) - Developing commercial scale green hydrogen projects. Infravision - Unmanned Aircraft Systems for Power Line Construction. MGA Thermal - Clean, economical and scalable thermal energy storage with a novel material, to convert retiring thermal power stations into grid scale renewable energy storage facilities. Powerpal - Connects your electricity meter to your smartphone and wirelessly tracks (in real time!) exactly how your home is using energy. Renewable Energy Hub - A clean energy marketplace and analytics platform supporting transactions by generators, energy retailers and customers in order to scale the uptake of renewable energy. UPowr - A digital platform redefining the solar and battery experience for households. UtilityAPI (US) - UtilityAPI provides easy, secure, functional access to energy data. Zenogen - Zenogen is bringing a complete hydrogen ecosystem from hydrogen production to mobility to communities and businesses. More information about each member of the 2020 EnergyLab Scaleup Program cohort is available at the EnergyLab website: https://energylab.org.au/startups, and recordings from today’s EnergyLab Scaleup Program 2020 launch event will be available to view from Tuesday, September 8 on YouTube. Part 2 of 2 | go to Part 1 UtilityAPI is in Oakland, CA. Today in the SF Bay Area, we're choking on smoke from wildfires caused by thousands of lightening strikes (also, high humidity, thunderstorms and lightening? In the Bay Area? In August? Super weird). Climate change is responsible for creating the conditions for all this. Fighting climate change is an all-hands-on-deck moment. It's no secret that diverse teams are essential. Let's get to it.  Where Do We Start? We’re not going to be able to fix the whole mess all at once. Here are a few ways to start: Policy / regulatory
Finance / business models
Structural / systemic We do need complex interventions to address the root causes of these issues. But we can start the work with our personal actions.
Everyone in the energy ecosystem needs easy access to secure data from a system that actually works. That's UtilityAPI. This post, as well as the previous one, was co-written with Shiva Patel, MBA Candidate @ Berkeley, Haas | Energy & Climate Justice Finance + Investments.
Clean Tech's mission is anti-racist. But our lack of diversity across our own teams handicaps our efforts. Part 1 of 2 | go to part 2  Clean tech exists to fight climate change. But we’re going about it with one hand tied behind our backs. Let’s fix that. We know climate change disproportionately impacts low wealth communities and communities of color. By its very nature, our mission is anti-racist. But our lack of diversity across our own teams handicaps our efforts. And the benefits of clean energy simply do not accrue equally to all individuals and communities. In addition to the moral imperative to diversify, which is massive, diversity in clean tech is simply good business. This is a huge opportunity for our industry not only to ally ourselves with what is right, but to grow. We can stamp out racism and exclusion where we see it. Doing that will make our industry stronger. We should want this. It’s not something to fight. It’s something to fight for, compelled by a sense of fairness and a vision of what our industry could be. Things are Better Than They Used to Be It can be depressing to look down the barrels of our double pandemic — COVID-19 and racial injustice — and wonder how clean tech can survive. And yet, our industry has made significant progress on other fronts. We now have many multiple billion dollar solar, EV and battery storage companies. Rooftop solar is growing dramatically — up 50% a year since 2012. Hardware technology costs and soft costs are plummeting. Permitting and interconnection barriers have dropped, making clean energy projects easier and faster to build. But It’s Still Bad; This Work Can’t Wait However, clean energy needs justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) more than ever. In the past few months, research from UC Berkeley and others has reminded us of the disparities in both the clean energy workforce, as well in solar energy deployment/business models. Low-income, Black and Latinx communities pay up to three times more than the average household on home energy costs, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. This is what we call the Energy Burden. Despite showing higher levels of interest in fighting climate change, Black- and Latinx-majority census tracts have installed significantly less rooftop PV compared with no racial majority and white tracts. This is what we call a missed business opportunity. So, while clean tech is making strides, we can help it along by fixing these systemic, institutional and individual JEDI issues. Imagine how much faster and to scale we could do it with both hands free to get to work. Next week, Part 2: less talk, more action. Places to get started doing the work. Everyone in the energy ecosystem needs easy access to secure data from a system that actually works.That's UtilityAPI. This post was co-written with Shiva Patel, MBA Candidate @ Berkeley, Haas | Energy & Climate Justice Finance + Investments. |
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