For Uplight, our B corp status is a critical component of our mission and company culture— we are dedicated to using business as a force for good by enabling the clean energy transition. We’re also committed to building an inclusive and equitable community through our clients, our partners, and within our workplace.
We achieved certification just a few months after our formation, and since then we have improved our B-corp score by 35.4%. Here are a few examples of what we accomplished in 2023 and beyond to make the planet more sustainable.
Reaching Customers in the Clean Energy Transition
In 2023, our solutions once again provided enormous benefits to utilities, energy customers, and the power grid alike. Uplight’s solutions reach more than 110 million homes and businesses–delivering more energy-saving recommendations, programs, and products into the hands of customers. We leverage our deep customer understanding to create impactful customer touchpoints that drive action. In 2023, Uplight sold over 500,000 devices through its utility Marketplaces, including smart thermostats, EV chargers, and air purifiers. Many of these were provided at low or no cost to income-qualified customers through our Offer Center. And, using additional touch points through high bill alerts, home energy reports, and more, we drove a 25% increase in energy-efficient product purchases.
Creating Valuable Load Flexibility that Scales
Through our demand response solution, we have nearly 1 GW of load under management. This equates to the capacity needed to power the households in San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX combined. In addition, Uplight shifted over 110 MW—the equivalent of more than two 50 MW peaker plants—in a single day. Through our partner PG&E, Uplight surpassed the milestone of 100,000 devices enrolled in its program, making it one of the largest programs in the country.
In January of 2024, we onboarded Autogrid to the Uplight team. Last year, Autogrid had an incredible impact on the energy ecosystem: they connected 8+ GW of distributed energy resources (DER) capacity to their Flex platform— an AI-driven distributed energy resource management system– worldwide, dispatched 4.2 GW of capacity to the grid, and controlled 1.1 million grid-edge resources. We’re excited to leverage more of Autogrid’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) and AI-driven capabilities in 2024. As more customers electrify, creating potential strain on the grid, orchestrating these devices will be more important than ever.
Committing to DEI In and Outside of Uplight
In addition to our external impact on the grid, we have made significant internal strides in 2023 to foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in our organization. We’ve taken significant steps to ensure fairness and objectivity across our practices, from advancing performance reviews to conducting compensation analyses. We have also focused on boosting the retention and advancement of minority groups at all organizational levels. We are also building a more inclusive environment through community-building events, Employee Resource Group (ERG) summits with allyship training, and events to support each ERG from PRISM (LGBTQAI+) to UNA-POC (United States North American People of Color) to Moms at Uplight (and more!) By empowering Uplighters to cultivate inclusive teams and strong communities, we’ve been able to improve our 2023 B-corp score in both the Workers and Community sections, increasing our B corp score by 60% (12.2 points) and 122% (11 points), respectively.
But our commitment to DEI extends beyond our walls. Through various volunteer initiatives, Uplighters have made a tangible impact in their communities, from supporting urban forest reclamation projects in India to building transitional tiny homes for homeless veterans in Colorado.
As we strive to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace and beyond, we remain steadfast in our mission to empower positive energy outcomes for all. We’re proud to be a B-corporation and are optimistic about the future of Uplight and the clean energy transition.
