For those championing the value of flexibility in maintaining grid reliability and transitioning away from fossil fuels, 2023 was a standout year. From demand response (DR) programs to distributed energy resource management systems (DERMs), microgrids to virtual power plants (VPPs), electric vehicle (EV) charging to large-scale assets, we saw a huge amount of progress, both within AutoGrid and across energy markets worldwide.
Here are 12 of the big milestones we’re celebrating as 2023 comes to a close.
January 2023
Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated power companies, advanced the country’s net-zero energy goals this year. Tapping both residential and commercial customers, AutoGrid’s AI-enabled platform AutoGrid Flex™ helped Tata Power reduce demand on the Mumbai grid by 75 megawatts (MW). By 2025, that capacity total is expected to jump to 200 MW of demand flexibility.
February 2023
After 11 years at the helm of AutoGrid, we said goodbye to our founder Amit Narayan and welcomed Ruben Llanes as our new CEO, reflecting the deeper integration of AutoGrid with Schneider Electric and commitment to a corporate culture that advances sustainability.
March 2023
The first distributed energy resource (DER) plugged into AutoGrid Flex was an electric vehicle (EV) back in 2012, they remain a transformative and rapidly-growing DER asset type. In March, we launched AutoGrid Flex™ EV, an AI solution that provides EV charging insights, demand forecasting, load and peak demand management, and seamless customer experiences to utilities tapping into EV and EVSE flexibility.
April 2023
Fast Company honored AutoGrid customer CLP Power for beating the heat in Hong Kong. By tapping flexibility aggregated across more than 600,000 households, CLP was able to shed 300 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity demand during a summer heat wave and avoid potentially catastrophic blackouts.
May 2023
Expanding its offerings with Schneider Electric, we rolled out EcoStruxure™ Microgrid Flex, a powerful microgrid solution that accelerates project timelines and reduces energy waste. The solution combines a modular, configurable design approach with AI-powered economic optimization and energy-as-a-service business models — creating a win-win-win scenario for microgrid operators.
June 2023
TotalEnergies, the deregulated arm of one of the world’s largest and most progressive energy companies, expanded its AutoGrid partnership from managing large battery assets in European markets to add U.S. asset optimization deployments in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Together, AutoGrid and TotalEnergies are testing out several new business models for large asset owners.
July 2023
AutoGrid Flex™ earns Top Product of the Year award from Environmental + Energy Leader. Our AI-powered flexibility platform helps customers across the energy value chain forecast and respond to intermittency from DERs and renewables, peak loads from extreme weather events, and rising baseline demand from increasing electrification — unlocking clean capacity and reducing reliance on costly, polluting peaker plants.
August 2023
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) turned one year old. Since its rollout, $369 billion has been invested in clean energy assets like virtual power plants (VPPs), and by 2030, IRA investments could reduce emissions contributing to global climate change by 41%, delivering environmental and economic benefits for Americans and the rest of the world.
September 2023
VPPs came of age in 2023, as evidenced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: VPPs report. The report underscores the critical role VPPs can play in displacing fossil fuel peaker plants, which are typically located in disadvantaged communities and represent the dirtiest and most expensive resources on the grid. AutoGrid followed up the DOE report with a VPP policy brief that echoes the report’s call for policy reforms to fully realize the potential of VPPs in 2024 and beyond.
October 2023
This summer broke numerous temperature and electricity peak demand records across the globe. AutoGrid Flex™ helped energy customers respond to the challenge, dispatching flexibility services during 2,500 events in eight countries and controlling over 1 million devices to offset 3.8 gigawatts of dirty power that would have been tapped otherwise to meet peak demand.
November 2023
AutoGrid deployed a turnkey VPP solution with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the largest utility operating in Washington state. Demonstrating the flexibility now possible with DER management, the expanded VPP will help PSE meet both winter and summer peak demand with aggregated DERs from over 1 million residential and business customers.
December 2023
Uplight, the market-leading customer engagement, enrollment, and load flexibility solution provider, announced its intention to acquire AutoGrid. Our combined capabilities will provide utilities and new energy players with a single platform to integrate, orchestrate, and monetize distributed energy resources (DERs), accelerating the clean energy transition.
Looking back at the past year, we have so much to celebrate—and even more to look forward to in the year ahead.
