GMP’s Mary Powell Named Executive of the Year by Utility Dive for Delivering Battery Storage to Customers

COLCHESTER, Vt. – Green Mountain Power (GMP) President and CEO Mary Powell has been named the 2019 ‘Executive of the Year’ by Utility Dive, a leading national industry news publisher.

The 2019 Dive Awards recognize the industry’s top disruptors and innovators. These executives, companies, trends, and breakthroughs are transforming the industry. Winners were chosen by the editors of Utility Dive based on thorough and independent research, reporting, and analysis.

In making the announcement, Utility Dive highlighted GMP’s groundbreaking work with home batteries, which is turning this tech advancement into a critical part of the grid. GMP “revolutionized its approach to expanding distributed energy resource access, ensuring that residential battery systems are being aggregated into grid resources while also saving customers money,” Utility Dive said.

“This is a tremendous honor for our team, because the innovative work we’ve accomplished here to help customers cut carbon and costs takes ingenuity, grit, and strong bonds of cooperation. I’m so grateful for this honor, and for the teamwork we do for customers here at GMP every day,” said Powell, who is stepping down as GMP’s president and CEO at the end of the year, closing a 20-year career at the company.

“The people and organizations that win the Dive Awards are trailblazers and leaders in their markets,” said Davide Savenije, editor-in-chief of Industry Dive. “Their achievements in 2019 are shaping the future of where the latest strategies and trends are going.”

In October, through GMP’s growing network of stored energy, more than 1,100 customers got backup power from their Powerwalls during a severe statewide storm. The home batteries provided more than 10,500 hours of backup, enough to power a single home for more than a year. The average backup was nine hours, while the longest was 82 hours. Since 2018, GMP’s battery programs have generated more than $800,000 of net value for all GMP customers while also providing the participating customers with thousands of hours of backup power.

“This commitment to innovation and driving down both carbon and costs is a priority, and we will continue to deliver results that benefit our customers. It is in GMP’s DNA to innovate and deliver cost-effective solutions,” said Mari McClure, incoming president and CEO of GMP.

“What we’ve shown through our partnerships with customers is that batteries are key to lowering costs while also providing safety and comfort, especially as we see more devastating storms more often due to climate change.”

GMP wants to continue to expand storage opportunities for customers, and has filed plans with regulators that are under review to offer batteries to more customers, as permanent offerings.

Read the full story in Utility Dive.

About Green Mountain Power

Green Mountain Power (GMP) serves approximately 265,000 residential and business customers in Vermont and is partnering with them to improve lives and transform communities. GMP is focused on a new way of doing business to meet the needs of customers with integrated energy services that help people use less energy and save money, while continuing to generate clean, cost-effective and reliable power in Vermont. GMP earned a spot on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list three years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019).  GMP is the first utility in the world to get a B Corp certification, meeting rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards and committing to use business as a force for good. J.D. Power’s 2018 and 2019 rankings put GMP among top utilities for customer satisfaction. In 2019, GMP was named “One of the Best Places To Work in Vermont” by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, and was the winner of the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year Award.

About Utility Dive

Utility Dive provides in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful news and trends shaping the electric power sector. The daily email newsletter and website cover topics such as smart grid, energy efficiency, regulation and policy, grid security, distributed generation, storage, renewables, and more. Utility Dive is a leading industry publication operated by Industry Dive. Our business journalists spark ideas and shape agendas for 7+ million decision makers in the most competitive industries.

This is a tremendous honor for our team, because the innovative work we’ve accomplished here to help customers cut carbon and costs takes ingenuity, grit, and strong bonds of cooperation. I’m so grateful for this honor, and for the teamwork we do for customers here at GMP every day

Mary Powell
GMP President and CEO