GridPoint Inc., a Reston company that develops technology to help businesses reduce their energy costs, has brought in three new executives to help guide it through its next growth phase.
The leadership appointments — all newly created roles — come as the 20-year-old company aims to more than double the number of locations in which it deploys its energy-saving tech, with ambitions of reaching 50,000 buildings within the next couple of years. Its hardware and software tools that monitor and control HVAC and interior lighting setups can now be found in some 20,000 properties after GridPoint recently expanded its partnership with Panda Express from a 200-store pilot program to a national rollout of about 2,500 locations in the coming years.
"We see these appointments as a strategic investment in GridPoint’s evolution," CEO Mark Danzenbaker told me. "With their leadership, we’re poised to chart new territories and set new benchmarks in our industry."
The new executives are Derek Booth, who has joined GridPoint as its chief customer officer after holding a similar role with Johnson Controls; Chris Ash, an energy industry veteran, who is vice president of product strategy; and Kim Park, who was named vice president of support and service after previously holding a similar role with ServiceTitan, a Glendale, California-based software developer.
Apart from Panda Express, GridPoint's clients include other big-name retailers like Walgreens and Chipotle. Danzenbaker, promoted to CEO in 2016, said GridPoint primarily targets retailers with national footprints because that's an easier way to grow than pursuing deals on a building-by-building basis. The company said last year that it has saved customers more than $873 million on their energy bills over the past two decades while keeping 11.9 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions out of the environment.
Its next phase of growth will be fueled in part by a $150 million credit facility it secured in June from Annapolis-based climate investment firm HASI, formerly known as Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc. That followed a $75 million capital raise in 2022 that was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and the venture capital arm of Shell Oil Co.
It's somewhat of a second act for GridPoint, which was in the cusp of shutting down in 2015 when D.C.-based Twenty First Century Utilities LLC swooped in and bought it for $62.5 million.
GridPoint's customers typically sign five-year subscription agreements, which include the installation and monitoring of the technology. Prices are offered across different packages but roughly come in at about a couple of hundred dollars per site per month on average, Danzenbaker said. The energy savings GridPoint brings its customers are always greater than the cost of the service, he added.
"Energy is not always front of mind but it's one of the big expenses and it should be front of mind," Danzenbaker said. "This is a cost-saving tool that doesn't cost you anything upfront."
Danzenbaker said GridPoint employs about 200 workers, about a third of whom are based in Virginia. The company is profitable, he said, though he declined to disclose revenue figures.
He told me the company's goal of getting into 50,000 buildings in the next couple of years could turn into hundreds of thousands of buildings in the coming decade, which collectively could lead to gigawatt-levels of energy savings across the country — and meaningful growth for GridPoint.
"Ultimately, we are trying to build this network of buildings, this army of buildings that really moves the needle on sustainability," he said.
