At Empower Equity, Inc. (EMPEQ), our Empower Visibility℠ platform is fixing this problem: the lack of capital by building owners to install energy efficient projects. Empower Visibility℠ is the most sophisticated software available for modeling CHP energy projects and the only one to guarantee financing for projects that qualify. Although the U.S. has made some great progress in implementing “green” technologies (solar, wind, hydroelectric), we still get over 80% of our energy from fossil fuels. Electricity is delivered through the “grid” system, which is often less than 40% efficient. This leads to not only unnecessarily high costs of creation and delivery but also leads to the unnecessary creation of high amounts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Because of the high degree of cost and GHG Emissions savings, EMPEQ is facilitating energy efficiency projects; many of which are combined heat and power (CHP) based; projects which can be up to 90% efficient. Meaning we are almost doubling the efficiency of electrical generation.
While installing much greater resiliency and OPEX and CAPEX savings for our end users, we create double-digit returns for our project equity investors. This is truly a win-win-win scenario. We firmly believe that we cannot “policy” our way out of the path civilization is on. However, the use of investment capital matched with: attractive returns, an experienced team, and a solid business model will be able to more effectively enact change.
Thanks to our sophisticated financial modeling platform and new availability of access to utility company big data, we’re giving energy efficiency and CHP prospects and investors a transparent look at project feasibility. CHP projects can now get the greenlight for funding – with increased functionality – like never before.
With a working Beta version, we’re have begun full platform development – it’s time to flip the switch “on” for investor value!
Companies are increasingly switching over to combined heat and power (CHP) or “co-generation”, for their energy needs. The benefits of CHP are very attractive; up to 90% efficiency means lower operating costs, increased power quality and resiliency, reduced emissions, and various other benefits. CHP has been around for over 100 years, in fact Thomas Edison’s first power plant was a co-generative plant (it used the heat generated to heat the surrounding buildings). Although CHP technology is widely used in Europe and Asia and the U.S. EPA and Department of Energy have both fully endorsed the technology and support growth of the industry, it has struggled to take off in the US.
The struggle lies in the technology’s complex nature – which makes performing due diligence on a CHP project’s feasibility extremely lengthy, difficult, and expensive. Companies considering these capital intensive projects (and the investors looking to finance them) require something accurate, reliable and less costly than current custom, manual, and time-consuming methods – and they aren’t getting it. Also, many firms do not have the capital available to finance a project themselves, nor the resources to find financing. A summary of the problems associated with current traditional solutions include:
Because of the lack of a low-cost, sophisticated modeling tool and project financing, far too many CHP projects are being halted before they start. Companies and cleantech investors that can proceed often are being forced to stick with pricey (or long term payback like solar) and unreliable, or poorly designed, cleantech energy solutions.
Now, those considering CHP projects – and those considering investing in them – have the intelligent solution they need to make optimal decisions.
Empower Visibility℠ gets CHP and Simple CHP (sCHP) projects off the starting blocks by providing a convenient and low-cost modeling tool (which also uses a direct link to previously-unavailable big data) and offers financial support for projects that qualify. In order to facilitate the onboarding process to help move away from centralized power, we’ve modeled ourselves as a Financier, Owner, and Operator (FFO) – providing not only due diligence and financing, but also asset management solutions that save companies money on CHP based projects. After confirming a project’s feasibility, we can help it get funded, built, and optimally operating.
The current version of Empower Visibility℠ is locally based, but the cloud-based version will allow the industry, as well as our business model, to achieve great scale.
In doing this, we’re bringing standardization and transparency to an industry that has lacked it for so long. Empower Visibility℠ is poised to transform the utility market by providing cost-effective, risk mitigated, and high-ROI for commercial and industrial buildings utilizing solutions like energy efficiency and CHP.
Empower Equity and the Empower Visibility℠ platform has many features that set it apart from the rest of the modeling applications. Firstly, we have already established partnerships with key governmental agencies enabling us to leverage grant funding, along with equity investment, to help get projects over hurdles. These partnerships also support the out of the cloud-based platform for Empower Visibility℠, because it will accelerate energy efficiency and CHP market growth. Empower Visibility℠ is the foundation in our Energy as a Service (EaaS) – managing every step of the process with a commitment to robust results and transparency.
Here are more ways Empower Visibility℠ makes life easier for those using and investing in CHP:
The days of relying on archaic methods, making guesses, and leaving projects unfunded are over with Empower Visibility℠. Though there’s plenty of hard work left, we’ve got quite a bit to be proud of to this point.
Project Funding Secured. Empower Equity has secured $20M in project funding from private equity and the New York State Green Bank (for NYS only) for two pilot investment programs in New York State beginning Q1 2017 and Pennsylvania Q2 2017.
Early Traction. EMPEQ has secured a partnership with two major international OEMs with a combined market caps of $10 billion, two utility companies, and one publicly traded gas and electric commodity broker.
Empower Visibility℠ Strides. We witnessed, first hand, the lack of reasonably priced and honest modeling for CHP in the energy efficiency industry, and recognized the need for a standardized modeling tool for the industry. We sourced experts in CHP, financing, engineering, real estate, construction, and more to work together on our beta version. Since completion, more than 40 site feasibility studies have been successfully executed through the platform.
Empower Visibility℠ Buildout On Track. In July 2016, EMPEQ secured a commitment of grant funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for buildout. This will aid in fully leveraging the company’s partnership with the US DOE.
Well-Esteemed. To date, EMPEQ has been a featured speaker at the Energy Solutions Center’s Technology and Market Assessment Forum (TMAF) and Johnson at Cornell’s Cornell Energy Conference (CEC). Furthermore, the company is represented on the prestigious DOE/EPA CHP Working Group. Lastly, Empower Equity completed the United Nations-partnered Cleantech Open Northeast accelerator in 2016. And was just recently accepted into the State University of NY’s iClean Accelerator in Albany, NY.
We’re proud of these accomplishments – and we’re not settling. In the coming year, we expect to implement our full, comprehensive online, cloud-based, energy efficiency and CHP solution.
Since 2006, Mr. Dwyer has founded, or co-founded, 11 companies in the real estate, combined heat and power, and finance industries. He also chairs the Northeast Clean Heat and Power Initiative (NECHPI) – an organization spun off of the US DOE TAP Program 12 years ago whose mission is to promote best practices for deploying efficient, environmentally superior and cost effective CHP systems in the North East United States. Mr. Dwyer has spoken on behalf of CHP in both Washington on Capital Hill and in Albany – New York’s Capital. His dissatisfaction with financial evaluation of CHP projects in the market led to his recent work with Empower Equity. Dwyer’s background includes: loss mitigation and risk reduction for traditional lenders, asset management, real estate investment, construction, management, energy efficiency, and finance. Dwyer is a United States Marine and previously held a DoD Top Secret SCI Security Clearance while serving as a cryptanalyst and platoon sergeant.
Mr. LaClair serves as the President and CFO of Empower Equity. LaClair has previously held positions as a CFO, Investment Specialist, and Finance Product Manager for companies such as M&T Bank and ASI Energy. Mr. LaClair was the lead developer of the Empower Visibility℠ platform and has financially evaluated over thirty-five CHP projects in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Among these projects were NYSERDA funded ventures in mixed-use buildings, nursing homes, C&I, and casinos. In addition to managing the finances of a corporate division and a middle-market company, Mr. LaClair’s experience is in conducting financial due diligence in CHP and energy efficiency investments for OEMs, ESCOs, and EPCs. Mr. LaClair holds an MBA from the Johnson Business School at Cornell University.
Former Proctor & Gamble, Cornell University, and New York State Gas & Electric (NYSEG – owned by Avangrid Inc) employee who built and managed a 30MW CHP-based microgrid and $42 million+ budgets; responsible for all things energy. As a Certified Plant Maintanance Manager, Mr. Wilson oversaw the construction and management of Cornell University’s 30MW combined heat and power plant.
Licensed NY Attorney, key contributor to Forbes magazine, and long time CHP energy expert. Specializes in utility law and investment.
Doctoral work at Syracuse University Newhouse School in advanced marketing and social media; also a former Associate Professor at Ithaca College and Newhouse. Expert in web interface, databasing, and social media.
ADVISORS (or ADVISORY BOARD)
Herbert E. Dwyer (“Sr”) – Former Xerox executive, current COO of a large manufacturer. Provides strategic guidance to the Board.
Ethan Ash – Helped launch online sites: Vertical Health, Practical Pain Management, and PsychCentral.com (world’s most visited mental health website), and worked at WebMD and Medsite.
Mike Cocking – President of Microcogen Partners LLC; worked with US and foreign manufacturing companies attempting to enter the micro-cogen market in North America while consulting with utility companies on how to best proliferate sCHP in its portfolio.