In 1999, I co-founded a company called Celerity Energy, based in Portland, Oregon. That company's mission was to provide demand response capacity to electric utilities, power marketers, and electric power users. Celerity went on to become California's largest demand response provider, with more demand response capacity under management than any other California Demand Reserves Partnership (DRP) provider. In May 2006, I decided to sell Celerity to EnerNOC, the national demand response firm that had grown more rapidly than any other and whose team shared the same passion and principles that had guided Celerity from the start.

There is much to tell our customers, trade partners, and friends about how we made this decision, and why this combination makes so much sense. Let me start from the beginning.

Celerity Roadmap

From the start, Celerity grew its business by focusing on providing the highest level of service for its customers. We recognized early on that we could not provide every solution to every energy problem of every customer, so we focused on being their best resource for a targeted need, and evolved our offering over time. We originally specialized in maximizing the value and improving the environmental impacts of our customers’ standby generators for use in demand response programs. The strategy paid off, and over time we became recognized as a well-respected provider in our target geographies.

Demand response was emerging as an important element of effective grid management. We examined others successfully doing what we were doing to determine whether there was a way to achieve a collective market presence in this evolving arena. We began collaborating with others who shared our passion for establishing demand response in the thinking and plans of utilities, ISO's, and wholesale markets. One of those companies was EnerNOC.

Building the Demand Response Market

Celerity and EnerNOC operated in a similar area and, although we found ourselves competing, more interestingly, we were cooperating in key market transformation activities. The organizations seemed to work together naturally. The more we collaborated, the more we realized that our complementary capabilities were delivering better results for our utility and end-use customers faster and more efficiently than either could achieve individually.

Committed to customer-focused energy management and building on a foundation of demand response, Celerity and EnerNOC independently expanded to offer end-use customers more services to address their evolving energy needs. Based on the knowledge gained from managing the electricity consumption of these customers in demand response markets, Celerity was confident we could deliver compelling energy savings if we had a broader array of solutions to offer. EnerNOC, with its strong financial resources and recent acquisition of eBidenergy's PowerTrak® energy management platform, was uniquely equipped to realize the fullest potential of Celerity's advantageous position in this emerging and exciting market.

Total Energy Management for End-Use Customers

The fusion of Celerity and EnerNOC positions the combined organization to better achieve our shared goal of bringing our customers Total Energy Management. We have the elements necessary to make this successful; we can see the pieces come together, all built on our commitment to excellence in execution. That is what excited me about moving in this direction. Energy end-users deserve the market's best solutions.

Total Energy Management builds on our leadership position in demand response to enable commercial, institutional, and industrial companies across the US to proactively manage their energy use and reduce costs. These end-users increasingly view proactive energy management as a competitive necessity, and want trusted partners with integrity and proven expertise, given today's complex and rapidly evolving energy marketplace.

Energy management can be a mysterious function for end-use customers, but successful, focused organizations understand that good management of the energy cost center can enhance their core business – just as long as it's not a distraction.

Well-managed companies also understand that electricity is a production input, a "raw material" that is consumed in creating products and services. Simply put, electric demand is a resource from which a company can derive material benefit by simply reducing losses. If energy can be used more efficiently and/or used at times when it is less expensive, significant cost savings can be realized which flow directly to the bottom line.

Businesses value the economic benefits of energy savings, but don't necessarily have the bandwidth to process all the details that can drive those savings. They need help. Customers look for a knowledgeable and experienced partner who can give assurance that savings can be achieved unobtrusively. They want a trusted provider who applies initiatives that deliver bottom line benefits. They want a partner that understands the energy and utility landscape that crosses more than 3,000 utilities in the US and countless more regulatory organizations. They want a strategist with technical capabilities to help them push energy management efficiencies as well as they drive their own general and operational management. They need a full-service, total energy management solutions provider.

Positioned for Success

EnerNOC, with its culture of excellence, passion for energy management, and sincere commitment to service delivery, is that trusted partner, strategist, and provider. EnerNOC has made a long term commitment to demand response, Total Energy Management (TEM), and advanced technology for conservation. EnerNOC's TEM team stands ready with the technical capabilities and professional qualifications to apply the best energy management and conservation strategies in the market today, and our customers are reaping the benefits.

I am excited by the combination of EnerNOC and Celerity. Our customers and the market should be excited, too.