Bidgely and Avista Utilities Win 2024 PLMA Technology Pioneer Award

Partnership recognized for deploying AI-powered energy insights to optimize existing grid infrastructure, enhance grid planning and improve operational efficiencies

LOS ALTOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bidgely and Avista Utilities have been awarded the 2024 Technology Pioneer Award by Peak Load Management Alliance (PLMA) for the integration of Bidgely’s UtilityAI™ Platform into Avista’s grid management and customer experience strategies. PLMA's annual awards recognize notable innovations in flexible load management and highlight the dedicated teams driving progress towards greater grid stability and reliability.

“We congratulate Bidgely and Avista Utilities, winners of PLMA’s 2024 Technology Pioneer Award, for their collaborative work that leverages AI technology to analyze customer consumption and provide energy insights that validate utility expectations for customers with EVs,” said Kevin Knight, PLMA Awards Program Co-Chair. “This commendable project showcases how AI technology can be a tool used to enhance grid planning, load management, and customer engagement. We look forward to learning more about their results and lessons learned when they present these in a webinar to PLMA stakeholders later this year.”

Avista’s application of Bidgely’s AI-powered data analytics was specifically recognized for transforming multiple dimensions of consumer usage data (via smart meters) into sophisticated energy insights that optimized Avista’s existing grid infrastructure and load forecasting. PLMA also acknowledged the partnership’s demonstrated potential to scale, specifically Bidgely’s light technology footprint and non-invasive monitoring approach.

“Energy consumption is evolving. The more we understand these changes the better we can serve our customers, manage grid loads and improve operational efficiencies,” said Latisha Hill, vice president community affairs and Chief Customer Officer at Avista. “We are honored by PLMA’s recognition for our use of Bidgely’s AI-powered energy insights as a catalyst for innovation organization-wide.”

Notably, Bidgely’s appliance-level energy insights led to data-driven discoveries cross-departmentally at Avista. As a result, the utility was able to reduce the time required to resolve customer calls, reduce high bill investigation truck rolls, improve customer engagement satisfaction ratings, enhance electric vehicle (EV) and distributed energy resources grid planning, as well as save hundreds of hours in employee workloads.

“Today’s energy landscape requires utilities to be innately in tune with how new consumption behavior and increased electrification affect the grid,” said Abhay Gupta, CEO of Bidgely. “Utilities are also embracing a culture of knowledge sharing, and Avista proved how a uniform data set can serve as a single source of truth to bolster success across multiple departments.”

To learn about Avista’s data-driven approach to grid management and customer engagement with Bidgely, read the case study: Leveraging Behind the Meter Intelligence for Customer and Grid Operations.

About Bidgely

Bidgely is an AI-powered SaaS Company accelerating a clean energy future by enabling energy companies and consumers to make data-driven energy-related decisions. Powered by our unique patented technology, Bidgely's UtilityAI™ Platform transforms multiple dimensions of customer data - such as energy consumption, demographics, and interactions - into deeply accurate and actionable consumer energy insights. We leverage these insights to empower each customer with personalized recommendations, tailored to their individual personality and lifestyle, usage attributes, behavioral patterns, purchase propensity, and beyond. From a Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and Grid Edge perspective, Bidgely is advancing smart meter innovation with data-driven solutions for solar PVs, EV detection, EV behavioral load shifting and managed charging, energy theft, short-term load forecasting, grid analytics, and TOU rate designs. Bidgely’s UtilityAI™ energy analytics provides deep visibility into generation and consumption for better peak load shaping and grid planning, and delivers targeted recommendations for new value-added products and services. With roots in Silicon Valley, Bidgely has over 16 energy patents, $75M+ in funding, retains 30+ data scientists, and brings a passion for AI to utilities serving residential and commercial customers around the world. For more information, please visit www.bidgely.com or the Bidgely blog at bidgely.com/blog.