Wattzon
| Private | |
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | Mountain View, California (2010) |
| Founders |
Martha Amram Saul Griffith Raffi Krikorian Jim McBride Steven Ashby |
| Headquarters |
Mountain View, California, U.S. San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Area served | Nationwide |
Key people |
Martha Amram (CEO) Jon Enberg (VP Partnerships) Sandra Carrico (Sr. Data Scientist) |
| Products |
Consumer Energy Engagement Platform Utility Data Connections (Nationwide) |
Number of employees | ~14 (August 2015) |
| Website |
WattzOn is a privately held SaaS ("Software as a service") company that helps users in the U.S. learn how to save energy, in collaboration with cities and other business partners, through personalized plans, product and rebate information, and tips for habit changes. WattzOn provides nationwide capture of residential utility data, and they claim that a typical user saves nearly $240 per year in energy, and that their water programs save an average of 9,000 gallons per year.
WattzOn’s partners use its software platform to acquire customer utility data, and increase customer uptake of products and services, including solar.
It's flagship product, EnergyCenter, has been used by residents in communities across the U.S., and has a library of utility data connectors that allow consumer-permissioned data access to utility bills nationwide.
WattzOn was founded in 2007 and has offices in Mountain View and San Francisco, CA, where it is part of OtherLab, a group of companies co-founded by Saul Griffith.
WattzOn’s History
WattzOn was started as a free web-based online tool by Saul Griffith, Raffi Krikorian, and Jim McBride. The original offering allowed users to calculate their total energy footprint by estimating their direct and indirect power consumption with the stated goal of educating users about energy efficiency and conservation. Unlike most carbon calculators, WattzOn has always measured energy consumption, and not the by-products (CO2, or CO2-equivalent emissions).
The original idea behind WattzOn were first spoken about by Saul Griffith and Jim McBride in a presentation entitled "The Game Plan: A solution framework for the climate challenge."[1] delivered at O'Reilly's Foo Camp and later detailed at length in Griffith's Long Now talk entitled Climate Change Recalculated.[2] From there, Raffi Krikorian spearheaded the effort to create an online tool that anybody could use to measure his or her level of energy efficiency. That website became WattzOn.com.
In 2011 WattzOn combined with EnnovationZ Inc, a company founded by Martha Amram and Steven Ashby. Since then Martha has led WattzOn, and the product has expanded to include tools to help users evaluate solar offers, gasoline savings from auto purchases, and an online store for energy and water savings products.
WattzOn was the recipient of a grant from the Department of Energy to bring consumers insights from smart meters. In partnership with Balfour Beatty, WattzOn served military families, and helped them save an average of 18% on their utility bill at 12 locations.
Presentation at The White House
In 2012, WattzOn CEO Dr. Martha Amram presented at the White House Energy Data Palooza. In 2013 Dr. Amram presented at a Green Button event organized by the White House and the Department of Energy.
WattzOn in The Media
WattzOn has garnered media coverage from a number of blogs and media outlets such as Business Week,[3] Wired magazine,[4] and Lifehacker.com.[5]
Business Model
WattzOn’s business model is organized around the premise that energy savings is not just a utility issue, but one that is meaningful and profitable in many settings. Hence WattzOn does not sell directly to utilities, but instead markets their software platform to other organizations — companies, cities, and military bases — that need a plug-and-play solution for scalable engaging energy savings.
WattzOn’s strategy is unique in that their software platform has been designed from the start to serve the entire U.S.— with every user experience localized and personalized. WattzOn’s business partners can undertake national rollouts, bypassing the need to coordinate with numerous utilities. The company built and maintains a library of utility data connection tools, and a national database of rebates and incentives from utility, city, county, state and the federal sources.
References
- ↑ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WattzOn_Game_Plan.pdf
- ↑ http://fora.tv/2009/01/16/Saul_Griffith_Climate_Change_Recalculated
- ↑ "The Best and Worst of Everything 2008 : Best Idea". Business Week. December 2008.
- ↑ "Playlist: Animation Vérité, YouTube's 'Final Countdown,' Animal Collective". Wired magazine. January 2009.
- ↑ "WattzOn Gets Geeky About Saving Energy (and Money)". Lifehacker.com. January 6, 2009.