Demand response company EnerNOC (s ENOC), which provides utilities ways to turn down aggregated power loads, has one of the most aggressive acquisition strategies in the smart grid sector. And that doesn’t look like it’s slowing down. On Wednesday, EnerNOC announced it has acquired Energy Response, a demand response provider in Australia and New Zealand.
The deal enables EnerNOC to add 240 MW of demand response capacity. According to a filing, EnerNOC paid $27.9 million for the company.
Australian utilities have been working on building out smart grid networks to help integrate clean power and reduce the country’s carbon emissions, and the Australian government has dedicated $100 million AUD ($107.63 million USD) to develop a smart grid demonstration project. Australia actually has one of the highest per-capita carbon emission rates in the world, due to both the electricity sector and transportation.
EnerNOC has actively been trying to move beyond its core business of providing demand response services to utility, though this latest acquisition falls squarely into expanding its demand response business. Previously, EnerNOC has acquired startups in building energy efficiency, carbon accounting services, demand response for agriculture systems, energy procurement, and risk management.
EnerNOC bought so many companies that the Boston-based energy firm both increased revenues and losses for its most recent quarter back in May. EnerNOC recorded revenues of $31.76 million, up from $28.12 million for the same quarter in 2010, and lost $19.27 million, down from $14.20 million for the quarter the previous year.
Here are EnerNOC’s acquisitions to date, now including Energy Response (and my apologies to anyone from Australia for the generic kangaroo pic to represent your country):
| Acquirer | Acquired | Price, Date | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| EnerNOC | Cogent Energy | Undisclosed, Dec. 2009 | Demand response player moves into energy efficiency business. |
| EnerNOC | Energy Response | Undisclosed, July 2011 | EnerNOC buys demand response in Australia. |
| EnerNOC | eQuilibrium Solutions | Undisclosed, June 2009 | EnerNOC adds on energy and carbon accounting software. |
| EnerNOC | Global Energy Partners | $26.5M, Dec 2010 | EnerNOC keeps expanding beyond demand response with Global Energy Partners acquisition. |
| EnerNOC | M2M Communications | Undisclosed, Jan 2011 | EnerNOC moves into turning down agriculture systems, like irrigation pumps. |
| EnerNOC | MDEnergy | $7.9M, Sept. 2007 | EnerNOC buys energy procurement service provider. |
| EnerNOC | Pinpoint Power | Undisclosed, June 2005 | EnerNOC buys demand response player, two years before it goes public. |
| EnerNOC | SmallFoot | Undisclosed, March 2010 | The demand response player buys wireless tech for small commercial buildings. |
| EnerNOC | South River Consulting | $4.75M, May 2008 | EnerNOC adds on more energy procurement and risk management. |
Image courtesy of Flying Cloud.