Uplight Acquires Agentis to Support Decarbonization, Energy Efficiency for Businesses

A software company that helps businesses with their decarbonization efforts is acquiring a competitor focused on supporting businesses in their engagement with utilities.

Uplight, a technology partner for energy providers, on Oct. 27 announced it is acquiring Agentis, which provides digital energy analytics for non-residential power consumers, primarily focused on energy efficiency. The companies on Wednesday said their combined expertise will create a singular, integrated solution to help utilities better understand, engage and drive business energy customers to action" when it comes to using cleaner energy for their operations.

Agentis, based in Chicago, Illinois, is a utility-customer engagement platform that supports relationships between utilities and their business customers. The company uses advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI, data to help businesses be smarter about their energy usage, including helping them reduce their carbon footprint. Uplight, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, brings together energy providers and their customers to support clean-energy ecosystems." The company said its software solutions support decarbonization while helping customers save energy and lower costs.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Both Agentis and Uplight are private companies; a spokesperson told POWER the structure of the deal is a stock acquisition of Agentis by Uplight. Agentis is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Uplight."

Electric and Gas Utilities

Uplight works with more than 80 electric and gas utilities worldwide. The company is known for creating new revenue streams for utilities, while optimizing their power load and generation assets.

Commercial and industrial [C&I] accounts for 60% of electricity consumption, but this sector continues to be underserved in terms of the tools it takes to better engage this market by helping them optimize their electricity usage, save money, and accelerate the path to decarbonization," said John Lux, general manager of the C&I division of Uplight, and the former president of Agentis. Lux told POWER, That's where this acquisition and Uplight comes in. Bringing together the number 1 and 2 leaders in utility customer engagement solutions for businesses means that we'll be in a stronger position to serve this market and meet their energy needs."

Uplight's been vocal in our past announcements about funding that we're planning to expand our business through acquisitions, so we're always evaluating both the companies out there and what the market needs now and in the future," Angela Tucci, COO of Uplight, told POWER. So from Uplight's perspective, we think continuing to consolidate solutions makes it much easier for the utilities we work with, but we also recognize how quickly the industry is evolving and the expanding need for solutions as EVs [electric vehicles], solar panels and smart thermostats continue to penetrate the market."

Said Tucci, Commercial customers are critical to utilities and the clean energy ecosystem, and we're eager to build upon Uplight's existing analytics platform with the addition of the Agentis team. The expertise they've developed in delivering a better customer experience aligns perfectly with how we're creating a more unified customer experience for our clients at Uplight. We are truly better together,' and we look forward to continuing to enhance customer outcomes for our utility clients as we tap the talent pool in Chicago."

Energy Efficiency

The companies in a news release said combining their platforms will better enable Uplight's utility partners to cultivate strong relationships with and convert a greater number of their business customers into energy efficiency and energy management programs." Uplight expects the acquisition of Chicago, Illinois-based Agentis will provide better access to diverse technical talent." The company also said it will solidify Uplight's position as a leading provider of energy services to business customers.

Since 2009, Agentis has been focused exclusively on business customers and truly understanding what they want from their energy provider. We're proud of our accomplishments, empowering more than 3.5 million businesses with technology to make better energy decisions in service of a low-carbon future," said Tim Stojka, co-founder and CEO of Agentis. With Uplight, we're delighted to continue that journey, now with the most comprehensive cloud-based platform, capabilities, applications, and insights to utility partners, and a growing ecosystem of third-party providers."

-Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).

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