Utilidata sees market in efficient energy distribution

ACROSS THE GRID: Scott DePasquale, chairman and CEO of Utilidata, says it would cost more than a trillion dollars today to modernize the electricity grid. / COURTESY UTILIDATE
ACROSS THE GRID: Scott DePasquale, chairman and CEO of Utilidata, says it would cost more than a trillion dollars today to modernize the electricity grid. / COURTESY UTILIDATE

With energy production a priority around the globe, Scott DePasquale is focused on commercializing Utilidata’s advanced technology to make the electric grid operate more efficiently. The company’s move from Spokane, Wash., to Providence in June 2012 positions Rhode Island as a potential leader in energy technology.
The production of electricity is known as a sluggish industry with infrastructure seriously in need of updating. DePasquale has a broad vision for Utilidata, based on his national and international experience in the energy industry.

PBN: You’re a native Rhode Islander. How did your work in the energy industry evolve and take you away from Rhode Island?
DEPASQUALE: I grew up in Cranston. I moved away in the 1990s. I’ve traveled the world scouting for technologies in energy. I’ve looked at grid and utility-related efficiency technologies that could help lower the cost of energy for consumers, address environmental issues and also address national security issues with regard to our dependence on foreign oil. For a time, I traded commodities and invested in infrastructure assets for large oil companies. I was a regulator in Massachusetts. I worked for the Department of Telecommunications and Energy. In 2009, I joined Braemar, a venture-capital fund that has about $600 million under management. I joined as a partner and my job at Braemar was to develop strategic relationships with large consumers and suppliers of energy so that we could jointly invest in technologies that could be commercialized very quickly and solve energy problems related to cost, national security and the environment.

PBN: What convinced you that Utilidata was a promising company?
DEPASQUALE: One of our partners at Braemar was American Electric Power. Their headquarters is in Ohio and they are in 10 other states. They have the largest electricity transmission and distribution system in the country. They introduced us to Programmable Control Systems, the predecessor to Utilidata. This little company in Spokane was half a dozen folks who had taken digital technologies used to develop cellphones and iPods and applied them to grid automation. They did it in a way that was low-cost and reduces an enormous amount of wasted energy.

PBN: How does Utilidata address the slow-moving improvements in power-distribution systems?
DEPASQUALE: It would cost more than a trillion dollars today to modernize the grid. As opposed to rebuilding our grid from the bottom up, Utilidata is trying to automate the processes and systems for the delivery of power to make it more efficient and make the control of electricity delivery more intelligent.

PBN: What convinced you to move Utilidata to Rhode Island?
DEPASQUALE: We decided to move closer to the East Coast, where it’s easier to attract technical talent to build the business and continue to develop the product. We looked at Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta, because there was a lot of work being done around smart-grid and utility modernization, but we didn’t get a lot of interest and state support. We also looked in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown, but it would have been very expensive to build a world-class facility. One thing that made it very attractive to come to Rhode Island was that … the R.I. Economic Development Corporation – offered us a half-a-million-dollar, low-cost loan. That provided a lot of liquidity to establish ourselves in our building. We built a 15,000 square foot facility that houses 5,000-square-feet of research and development simulation centers and assembly areas.

PBN: How many employees do you have and are you hiring?
DEPASQUALE: We brought a few people from Spokane and today we have 30 employees with an average salary of over $100,000 a year. Within the next six months, we’ll have another 10 to 15 employees.

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PBN: What’s the status of Utilidata’s technology? Are you talking with National Grid?
DEPASQUALE: We are deploying our technology at commercial scale at American Electric Power and at the end of the third quarter we’ll have the largest deployed automated voltage optimization product in the marketplace. We’ve deployed in Kentucky and Indiana with AEP and in the next several months we’ll be announcing future deployments in states AEP is in. Through the work I did at Braemar, I’ve had a close relationship with National Grid. We’ve been talking with them trying to understand what we could do to change the status quo and improve the reliability of power issues and lower the cost for the consumer. … National Grid has been involved with our company as a supporting ecosystem member, and we are in discussions with them at many levels.

PBN: What’s your vision for the future of Utilidata? Do you have an exit strategy? Are you looking toward an IPO or being acquired?
DEPASQUALE: We have challenges, but we’re a young, nimble, innovative, growing company. We bring our ecosystems, our sphere of influence, and particularly when you’re associated with venture-capital firms that have a global mandate, those are all good things for Rhode Island. My job is to build a great company, to get great customers, to have better, more innovative technology, to drive change in a constructive way. •

INTERVIEW
Scott DePasquale
POSITION: Chairman and CEO of Utilidata
BACKGROUND: A Rhode Island native, DePasquale has nearly two decades of experience in the energy industry. Prior to becoming chairman and CEO of Utilidata, he was a partner in Braemar Energy Ventures, a New York-based, private-equity fund focusing on investments in energy technology. DePasquale was also a senior vice president at GE Financial Services, where he led the group’s Boston-based, energy-technology activities. DePasquale currently serves on the boards of ChargePoint, Grid Net, Viridity Energy and Ioxus. He is a member of the steering committee of the U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bryant University, 1994; master’s degree in finance from Suffolk University, 2003
FIRST JOB: Paperboy
RESIDENCE: East Greenwich
AGE: 41

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