Technology Spotlight: An Interview with Enersponse
As part of Beaumont Bailey’s mission to connect founders, innovators, and key players that make up the fabric of our industry, our latest Technology Spotlight series highlight the success of our incredible members and wider network. In this instalment, we speak with Rachel Permut, Chief Revenue Officer at Enersponse.
Tell me a little bit about Enersponse, your career path, and how you became introduced to the company.
I joined Enersponse three years ago, bringing with me nearly 25 years of experience in the power sector, primarily across strategy and business development roles. My background includes time at Duke Energy and ENGIE, working across battery storage and ESCO operations. I’ve had the chance to work in diverse environments, which has helped shape my understanding of the clean tech landscape.
My introduction to Enersponse came through long-standing industry relationships. I met our CEO 15 years ago while I was at Duke, and we were investing in a company he was involved with at the time. Years later, when Enersponse was looking for investment, we reconnected, structured a deal, and that’s how I joined the team. It was a great reminder that relationships built early in your career can come full circle, especially in an industry as connected as this one.
Go into the technology in a bit more detail. What main problems are Enersponse addressing?
Enersponse sits at the intersection of several macro trends: the electrification of transport and industry, the growth of data centres, and increasing energy load across all customer segments. At the same time, new generation is hard to bring online due to supply chain issues, permitting challenges, and transmission constraints. That tension has led to a capacity crisis and increasing energy prices.
Our solution helps solve this by offering highly targeted demand flexibility during the 40–100 most critical hours of the year, those moments of peak pricing or grid stress. Our platform helps commercial and industrial customers participate in demand response programs, which are often now called Virtual Power Plants (VPPs).
Rather than relying on diesel generators or expensive imported power during peak events, our customers use our technology to adjust their energy usage. It could be through throttling HVAC systems, delaying pumping operations, or adjusting industrial processes. This helps balance the grid and avoids triggering fossil-fuel backups, making it a more sustainable option.
What are the main markets that your product is for? How does it disrupt the industry it is operating in?
Our strongest sector is water, including water districts and agricultural pumping, where we’ve built significant capabilities. These clients often have the flexibility to pre-pump or adjust operations with some advance notice, which fits well with our platform. We’ve recently expanded into food processing, cold storage, crypto, metals and mining, oil and gas, and other industrial sectors where operations run beyond standard 9–5 hours.
Geographically, we’re focused in California, the Mid-Atlantic (PJM), Texas (ERCOT), and New York. We also support over 50 smaller utility programs across the U.S., As grid constraints increase and energy prices rise, the value of participation in these programs grows. This is a cost-effective and impactful opportunity for organisations spending over $20,000 per month on electricity.
A key new focus is data centres. These facilities consume massive power and are often constrained by interconnection challenges. Through partnerships with control providers like Divcon, Foreman, and Hivon, we enable data centres to participate in demand response and be better community partners by reducing their impact during peak grid events.
How have you seen this industry change over the years, and where do you predict it is heading?
While commercial buildings have seen a lot of automation, industrial operations still function in very traditional ways. One of the most notable changes is the shift from phone calls to automated texts for communicating energy events – we now notify as many site contacts as needed instantly.
Despite advances in communication, the operational side of industrial energy management remains much like it was 30 years ago. But the increasing load, tighter grid constraints, and growing attention to ESG goals mean demand flexibility will become more embedded into standard operations over the next decade.
Any developments in scaling facilities or product production?
We’ve built strong partnerships across multiple sectors. One highlight is our work with the Cucamonga Water District. With 24-hour advance notifications, they’re able to pre-pump or manage water tables to maintain operations during grid events, illustrating a textbook case of sustainable and reliable demand response.
We’re also scaling partnerships with companies like Divcon for broader data centre integration, and actively working with control partners to build out flexibility capabilities across more industries.
What do you find the most challenging about the talent market right now, specific to your industry?
Demand response is a niche field; only a handful of companies are operating in this space, so finding experienced talent is a challenge. While we’ve successfully trained new hires, scaling quickly requires candidates familiar with the power sector. Our work focuses on kilowatts, which are more akin to batteries than solar or energy efficiency who speak in kilowatt hours, which is unique in itself.
The startup environment also demands a specific mindset: adaptability, mental flexibility, and a collaborative, entrepreneurial spirit. Those who succeed here are proactive, eager to contribute, and open to evolving strategies. That culture is crucial to our continued success.