DURHAM–American Efficient, one of America’s largest aggregators of energy efficiency resources, has acquired PlotWatt Inc., a company focused on residential and commercial energy analytics. Both companies are based in Durham. Financial details were not disclosed.
PlotWatt’s customers include Fortune 500 firms and eight of the 10 largest quick service restaurant brands like Wendy’s, KFC and Dunkin Donuts.
“The cleanest and least expensive energy is energy you don’t have to consume,” said Mark Laabs, CEO of American Efficient in a statement.
“For years, we have admired PlotWatt’s innovative tools that make energy information accessible to consumers, and we are excited to accelerate PlotWatt’s work with companies across the country to operate their facilities more efficiently.”
The acquisition of PlotWatt marks American Efficient’s expansion into commercial energy management software and services, the company says. American Efficient and PlotWatt customers own or operate over 200,000 locations combined across the U.S., Canada and New Zealand.
Huge energy savings
To date, American Efficient and PlotWatt have helped provide enough energy savings to the grid to simultaneously power the cities of San Francisco, Boston and Las Vegas for one year.
PlotWatt customers can measure, model and simulate the impact of energy efficiency initiatives before they invest, allowing them to target and prioritize investments by potential return. PlotWatt subscribers can see an immediate return on investment with up to 15 percent electricity savings, according to the company.
PlotWatt won $100,000 in an Ecomagination Challenge by GE seven years ago. It raised a $3 million A round in 2012 with Durham’s Acorn Innovestments and Raleigh’s Morehead Capital investing, following a 2011 $1 million seed round.
PlotWatt says its service is of particular value to multi-location businesses because it provides site-by-site comparative analyses as well as operational benchmarking. In addition to energy savings, the service can detect appliances in need of repair and provide business intelligence such as whether a location shuts down early or if deliveries are late.
American Efficient, founded in 2011, currently runs incentive programs for energy efficient installations in 30 U.S. states. Its programs help reduce the need for expensive and inefficient energy generation infrastructure. PlotWatt, founded in 2008, provides energy analytics servicesacross the United States, Canada, and New Zealand.
PlotWatt will continue to operate under the PlotWatt name.
