Jul 16, 2019

Tendril and Simple Energy announced they have merged their business operations and formed a new market leader:  Uplight. By combining the recent acquisitions of EEme, EnergySavvy and FirstFuel with Tendril’s data analytics platform and Simple Energy’s consumer engagement marketplace, Uplight offers the most comprehensive suite of customer-facing solutions to electric and gas utilities. “Educating and engaging our millions of business and residential customers on the renewable and smart control options available to them is important to this effort. With its approach to personalization and customer experience, Uplight is an ideal partner to accelerate our clean energy ecosystem.” Uplight provides an end-to-end energy action system that transcends utility silos and leverages every energy customer interaction across every channel, program and solution. This approach enables utilities to provide the personalized experiences that customers have now come to expect and which motivate them to act while improving satisfaction, increasing revenue, reducing the cost to serve, and contributing to carbon reduction goals. “To lead the transition to a clean and resilient grid, energy providers must invest in providing a world-class customer experience,” said Adrian Tuck , formerly the CEO of Tendril and now the CEO of Uplight. “We formed Uplight to help utilities do exactly that. By bringing together market leaders in energy software, we have created a unique partner that combines leading innovation in consumer engagement and proven results working across organizational silos. Together we will support the clean energy ecosystem with a new suite of capabilities that lead to true customer-centricity.” The formation of Uplight comes at a critical time. Utilities not only face a host of technical, competitive and regulatory challenges, but they are also expected to provide a personalized customer experience, reduce costs and drive new sources of revenue. In response, utility leaders have been forced to patch together a mix of overlapping vendors to address different aspects of the customer energy experience. This patchwork approach cannot deliver the modern, frictionless, integrated experience customers now expect. “Over the past few years we’ve assembled highly skilled and passionate teams with a shared commitment to serve electric and gas utilities, empower customers, and build a more sustainable future,” said Yoav Lurie , formerly the CEO of Simple Energy and now the President and COO of Uplight. “The name Uplight illustrates this commitment and speaks to the power of our industry to accelerate massive change at a critical time as we create a carbon-free energy system.” Uplight’s comprehensive suite of solutions delivers highly personalized, timely and relevant energy actions based on customer-specific data, individualized journeys and unique personas. The highly synergetic solutions are offered as part of a unified software platform, providing a streamlined, holistic experience for utilities. They include: Behavioral Energy Efficiency Rates Adoption and Experience Energy Experience Platform “We have long trusted Simple Energy and Tendril to help us build the future of our company and better serve our customers,” said Patti Poppe , President and Chief Executive Officer, Consumers Energy. “As we execute our latest Integrated Resource Plan, which calls for zero coal production and at least 40% from renewables by 2040, it’s more important than ever to work with partners that deliver flexibility and innovation at scale. Uplight, with its focus on the customer and comprehensive solution set—from behavioral energy efficiency and dynamic rates enrollment to an ecommerce marketplace and automated device control—provides the full package required to help achieve our IRP goals.” “At Xcel Energy we embrace our responsibility to the environment, which is why we are committed to producing 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050,” said Brett Carter , Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Innovation Officer, Xcel Energy. “Educating and engaging our millions of business and residential customers on the renewable and smart control options available to them is important to this effort. With its approach to personalization and customer experience, Uplight is an ideal partner to accelerate our clean energy ecosystem.” Uplight offers its utility partners industry-leading software, robust data analytics, agile scalability, industry knowledge, commitment to progress and deep expertise across the entire energy ecosystem. Bringing together these successful companies means Uplight already has extensive experience, as demonstrated by its more than 75 utility partners across 40 states, and reaching 100 million residential and business customers. Rubicon Technology Partners (RTP), which made a strategic investment in Tendril in December 2018, remains Uplight’s majority shareholder. The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) became Simple Energy’s largest shareholder in March 2018 and continues as a key investor and innovation partner in Uplight. RTP and AES share Uplight’s vision for accelerating a cleaner energy future and will continue to be key partners in the company’s growth.