Avangrid Hosts Fourth Annual Energy Innovation Hackathon

181 students from 16 leading universities from across the United States competed for a chance to win cash prizes in the 32-hour competition.

ORANGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avangrid, Inc., a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, celebrated future leaders in the energy industry at its fourth annual Energy Innovation Hackathon, reinforcing Avangrid’s belief that talent is the building block of the company and central to its aspiration of “every day for the future.” This year’s edition brought together 181 students from 16 universities across the United States, demonstrating Avangrid’s growing confidence in convening innovative talent nationwide.

“The Energy Innovation Hackathon is a powerful forum for Avangrid to inspire the next energy leaders,” said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “We are connecting with talented students who may be interested in an energy industry career but haven’t yet had exposure to real challenges. On top of that, we encourage our own employees to think differently about the challenges we face day in and day out, and this is a fantastic opportunity to work together to solve them.”

The 32-hour competition invited students working in teams of three to evaluate three renewable energy projects—two wind farms and one solar farm—whose original power contracts had expired. Using real Avangrid data, teams built models to determine whether to continue selling electricity at market prices or secure fixed prices through a new power purchase agreement, and what that optimal price should be.

The increase in participation from previous years reinforces a core company belief: talent thrives where opportunity exists, where innovation has real impact, and where Avangrid listens to and empowers talent across the United States.

The first-place team consisted of Pannatat Khumchaisakul, Sukwon Yang, and Elena Bouldin from Yale University. Second place honors went to Ansh Sharma, Diya Bhattarai, and Ryan Edward from University of Texas, Dallas. Third place was awarded to Anup Bhowmik, Amal Dev Cheepra Mailapravan, and Aravindharishi Chenthurvasan from the State University of New York, Binghamton. Judges were impressed by the determination, creativity and teamwork of all participants, which have more than doubled from the previous year.

“Participating in the 2025 Avangrid Hackathon was a stimulating and deeply rewarding experience. As students committed to the clean energy transition, we are deeply grateful to Avangrid for this incredible opportunity and to the judges for their time and insight. We left with a far richer understanding of the industry and with lessons that will shape how we think about our careers in the years ahead,” said Elena Bouldin from Yale’s first-place team.

“Being part of the Avangrid Hackathon was a blast. We spent so many hours coming up with solutions we really cared about, and it helped us push ourselves way outside our comfort zones to bring our final idea to life. Walking away with a finished solution and the judges’ recognition made all the effort worth it,” said Diya Bhattarai from UT Dallas’ second-place team.

“Participating in this hackathon was genuinely rewarding. The prompt was well-designed, the dataset was engaging, and the overall management made the experience smooth and enjoyable. The office-hour conversations with industry professionals were particularly inspiring, giving us a clearer picture of how these skills translate into real-world problem-solving. It’s an experience that not only helped us grow but one we hope to carry forward into our careers,” said Amal Cheepra Mailapravan from SUNY Binghamton’s third-place team.

A panel of ten subject matter experts from a variety of departments within Avangrid served as judges for the competition. They also interacted with students during “office hours” to answer questions and provide direction.

The Hackathon is a proven concept within Avangrid’s broader approach to cultivating intelligence in action. It complements the company’s long-standing partnerships with more than 30 colleges and universities on advanced research, its Innovation Forum (now planning its 9th edition), its forthcoming Prompt-a-thon, and its company-wide AI literacy initiative. Avangrid is also rolling out simulation-based, gamified in-person training (Rate Making and Ready Now) designed to prepare employees for the energy system of the future, while continuing to strengthen workplace inclusion—reflected in its 2025 Disability:IN score and its aspirations for 2026.

“At Avangrid, talent is not just a resource — it is the foundation of our future,” said Ignacio Estella, Avangrid Senior Vice President of Talent, Performance, Innovation and Equal Opportunity. “The Hackathon shows that when opportunity and purpose meet, talent everywhere can rise to the challenge. This event reinforces our commitment to listening to students and professionals across the U.S., empowering them to create meaningful impact through innovation.”

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. is a leading energy company in the United States working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses across the nation through service, innovation, and continued investments by expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid has offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon, including operations in 23 states with approximately $48 billion in assets, and has two primary lines of business: networks and power. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England. Through its power generation business, Avangrid owns and operates 80 energy generation facilities across the United States producing 10.5 GW of power for over 3.1 million customers. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens – in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year. The company was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2025 for the seventh consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit http://www.avangrid.com.