Sell Your Unused Electricity: COI Energy’s Breakthrough at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
▼ Summary
– Large enterprise campuses pay for fixed monthly electricity capacity based on peak usage, unlike homeowners who pay for actual consumption.
– CEO SaLisa Berrien founded COI Energy to address energy inefficiency after experiencing childhood energy poverty and working 25 years in utilities.
– COI’s patented marketplace enables businesses to sell unused energy allotments predicted through data analysis of their consumption patterns.
– The startup has raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding and already generates revenue through pilot customers across multiple states.
– COI dedicates 1% of customer savings to energy assistance nonprofits through its “Kilowatt for Good” program while expanding internationally.
Large enterprises with sprawling campuses face a surprisingly outdated electricity purchasing model, one that COI Energy is fundamentally reshaping. Unlike residential customers who pay for actual consumption, these commercial entities commit to a fixed monthly capacity based on peak potential demand, paying for vast amounts of power they rarely use. This systemic inefficiency, which results in significant financial waste, is the core problem that COI Energy’s innovative marketplace directly tackles.
The company’s founder and CEO, SaLisa Berrien, was driven to solve this issue by deeply personal experiences. Growing up, her family sometimes couldn’t afford their electric bill. “We were in the dark a lot. And as a kid, my self-esteem was low,” she recalled, mentioning how other children who knew would tease her. This motivated her to pursue a career where she could make energy more efficient, affordable, and accessible.
After earning a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA, Berrien spent 25 years working with major utility companies and clean energy startups. Despite friends questioning her choice to enter what they saw as a stagnant, male-dominated field, her personal mission was clear. In roles focused on customer operations and smart grids, she consistently saw the same problem: companies were reserving and paying for far more energy than they ever consumed.
Her solution to this chronic overpayment evolved into three patents and the foundation of COI Energy. The startup has built a specialized team with expertise in building management, energy engineering, and regulatory affairs. Their platform creates a marketplace where businesses connected to the same utility can sell portions of their unused energy allotment. COI’s technology predicts when a company won’t need its full capacity, allowing that surplus to be monetized.
A key component is the installation of a patented, hardware-agnostic energy gateway at each customer site. This device integrates with the building’s systems and SCADA networks, collecting detailed usage data. The platform then analyzes this information to forecast electricity needs with a 90-day prediction window. Based on these forecasts, an enterprise can decide how much unused capacity to release onto COI’s marketplace.
COI compensates the seller for this reserved power, and buyers on the platform purchase it from the company. “If a customer gives us 100 kilowatts, we will pay them for that 100 kilowatts, and then the buyers would buy that from us,” Berrien explained. This process turns a static expense into a dynamic, revenue-generating asset for businesses.
Currently in its pre-seed stage, COI Energy has secured $3.5 million in funding from a diverse group of investors, including former Talen Energy executive Paul Farr, Morgan Stanley Inclusive and Sustainable Ventures, and several impact funds. The company is already generating revenue through pilot programs with five customers, each managing a minimum of 50 buildings. Operations are active in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York, with a growing waitlist of interested companies.
The startup’s potential is gaining international attention. COI is in discussions to become a solution provider for Switzerland as the country prepares to enact a national energy policy in 2026 that will enable businesses and homes to share capacity.
True to its founder’s origins, the company has embedded a social good initiative into its business model. Through a program called Kilowatt for Good, COI dedicates one percent of the savings that businesses earn on the platform to nonprofit organizations. These groups assist underprivileged families with energy bills, weatherization projects, and access to renewable energy programs like solar power.
Berrien’s vision extends beyond immediate financial gains. She emphasizes that the technology helps strained energy grids by optimizing existing resources. “Instead of wasting capacity, you’re sharing it. So we’re making the planet better. We’re making our bottom lines better. And then at the same time, we’re helping and uplifting our communities,” she stated.
As a Top 20 finalist in the Startup Battlefield, COI Energy will be presenting its pioneering technology at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco, showcasing a practical solution to a long-standing industry challenge.
(Source: TechCrunch)