Kraken and United Illuminating Enter Partnership to Pilot Smart Energy Tech, Reduce Grid Constraint in Connecticut
- Selected for Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s Innovative Energy Solutions program, Kraken will enable United Illuminating (UI) to offer dynamic supply and demand response management solution to households
- UI’s electric vehicle and heat pump customers in New Haven and Bridgeport can benefit from up to 20 percent reduction in energy usage and a 30 percent cut in power bills
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Kraken, a proven end-to-end enterprise platform for energy management, has partnered with United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), to introduce an intelligent control and optimization solution for UI’s customers.
The project will enable households to reduce their energy consumption by 15-20 percent and grids to ease constraints caused by high demand, all without the customers having to lift a finger. Set to launch in June 2024, the pilot aligns with Connecticut’s ambitious climate goal of a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Powered by Kraken’s SmartFlex technology, UI customers will be able to optimize electric vehicles and heat pumps to efficiently minimize their energy usage. This allows the supplier to automatically match customers’ energy usage to the greenest and cheapest times. Through this program, households can save as much as 30 percent on their monthly electric bills, the equivalent of $120-$200 per device.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our journey towards a more dynamic, customer-centric energy system. This partnership with United Illuminating is a perfect opportunity for us to show how the Kraken platform can build a lasting change for the communities in the region,” said Kraken CEO Devrim Celal. “We are proud to work with UI to optimize customer’s energy usage, and play a role in Connecticut’s net zero goals.”
Selected to participate in the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA’s) Innovative Energy Solutions Program, Kraken and UI will enable a decarbonized, affordable, and equitable electric grid while having the capability to minimize grid congestion during peak times. A 20 percent adoption among UI’s customer base would bring more than 450 MW of flexible load to the Connecticut region, which could be strategically managed to take stress off the grid and prevent blackouts.
“With the creativity and innovation of companies like Kraken, we in Connecticut can build a more sustainable, efficient energy system to benefit all electricity users,” said Frank Reynolds, President & CEO at UI. “Today, we at UI are proud to announce our partnership with Kraken to make an industry-leading energy management platform available to our customers, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on customers’ energy usage and costs.”
This partnership follows the successful US launch of SmartFlex and licensing agreement with energy asset manager Tenaska in June 2023. With Kraken currently orchestrating 155,000 domestic devices across the globe—totaling over 38.35 GW of contracted power—it stands as one of the largest residential virtual power plants in the world. Currently active in 18 countries, Kraken is on track to serve 100 million energy accounts on its platform by 2027, with 10% of these in North America.
To learn more about how Kraken is advancing the global energy transition, visit kraken.tech.
About Kraken
Kraken Technologies offers a best-in-class end-to-end platform for energy supply and is operating in the UK, Japan, US, New Zealand, Australia, and most of mainland Europe. Kraken’s proprietary platform is contracted to serve 54 million customer accounts across the globe through licensees. Its first client was Octopus Energy, where Kraken manages 7.7 million retail customers globally and over 60,000 business customers (the largest of which is Arsenal FC).
Based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities, Kraken automates much of the energy supply chain to allow outstanding service and efficiency as the world transitions to a decentralized, decarbonized energy system. Kraken’s flexibility arm is currently contracted to manage over 38 GW across 130,000 green energy assets in 12 countries.
Kraken Technologies is part of Octopus Energy Group and was developed to enable select third parties to take advantage of the technologies developed by Octopus Energy. It has already been licensed by major global players, including Origin Energy, E.ON and EDF. https://kraken.tech/
About United Illuminating
The United Illuminating Company (UI) is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. Established in 1899, UI operates approximately 3,600 miles of electric distribution lines and 138 miles of transmission lines. It services approximately 341,000 customers in the greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas of Connecticut. UI received the Edison Electric Institute’s Emergency Response Award in 2019 and 2021. For more information, visit www.uinet.com
Contacts
Oluwatona Campbell
kraken@berlinrosen.com
