When utility customers can see exactly how much energy they’re consuming, and how, they can be far smarter about using it. That’s the argument made by Powerhouse Dynamics, a Newton, MA, startup developing energy-management software that lets users observe and control the flow of power through their homes.
To fund the effort, the company is raising $2 milion in venture funding, according to a report this morning from Dow Jones VentureWire. Powerhouse CEO Martin Flusberg told the publication, in an interview at the Greenbuild International conference in Phoenix, that the round will close in November or December; he wouldn’t name the investors.
Flusberg is the co-founder and former president of Nexus Energy Software, which was sold to ESCO Technologies in 2005. Co-founder and chief technology office Carsten Steenberg formerly led U.S. operators for Danish firms I-Data and Phase One. (Powerhouse’s website also says that Steenberg “is an expert on Cold Fusion technology.”) The third co-founder, Dan Kaplan, the company’s chairman and chief marketing officer, was co-founder of LowerMyBills.com, now owned by Experian.
Powerhouse disclosed in a regulatory filing in April that it had raised $225,000 out of a planned $750,000 debt financing round. The documents show that the company was formed in 2007 and was originally based in Blue Hill, ME.
According to the Powerhouse website, the company’s PC-based software, called eMonitor, keeps tabs on “every circuit in the home,” including solar photovoltaic panels (assuming the home has them), lets homeowners control their thermostat, issues trouble alerts and energy-saving suggestions, and provides a picture of a home’s overall carbon footprint. In a blog post, Flusberg says the software works because it provides feedback that “allows consumers to see the impact of their behavior and take steps to change.”
The Powerhouse site says the eMonitor software will be “widely available in late 2009,” but Flusberg told Venture Wire that the company will ship only about 100 units this quarter, with a wider release coming next year. Flusberg said the eMonitor product will cost $600 plus a $12 monthly subscription.
