Unlike other DR service providers, which allow utilities and grid operators to curtail flexible loads when supply is constrained, GridMobility aims to dispatch flexible loads when electricity generated by renewable sources is present on the grid. In effect, the company’s technology is balancing demand with an intermittent supply of electricity from wind farms and solar arrays, a service for which balancing authorities and ISOs are beginning to pay rewards.

GridMobility’s technology is a kernel, not a new platform. At first glance this would seem like an impediment, since deployment of the company’s technology would depend on existing demand response infrastructure being in place. But Dr. Holbery (He holds a Ph.D./MS in Materials Science) points out that the kernel can also be deployed through other gateways, including building management systems (the company has relationships with the likes of Grubb & Ellis and others), EV charging infrastructure (Siemens, Leviton, and others), or in the future, even through advanced metering infrastructure into homes.

GridMobility has proven its technology in a six-month demonstration at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington campus, where its technology was integrated with building systems from both Siemens and Honeywell. Its intellectual property resides in the renewables integration space, not specifically in the demand response signal, so the company sees its offering as complementary to those of other DR service providers. The company has a solid list of technology and demonstration partnerships, but is looking for partners with growth capital to scale up from its current staff of five and to further prove its technology in the market.

Suffice to say – we’ll be watching.

Troy Ault is a research analyst at Cleantech Group.