Pittsburgh's
BPL Global is emerging as a leader in the bid to help America modernize its aging electricity infrastructure.
With $3.4 billion available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BPLG is positioned to help utilities and other companies get to work. Last month the first funds were awarded, targeting private companies, utilities and other partners. The grants range from $400,000 to $200 million.
BPLG was identified by 19 of the 100 grant recipients and will be working in the next two months to secure more contracts as the work gets underway, says Keith Schaefer, co-founder, president and CEO.
"BPL Global will play a pivotal role as one of the leaders transforming the way energy will be delivered," Schaefer says. "We believe that the DOE and others have concluded that we have a proven scalable software answer to manage the distribution of data."
Schaefer believes that the overhaul of the nation's "smart grid" is every bit as historic as when NASA was formed to catapult the nation into space and the national Interstate highway system was created. The "smart grid" includes everything from enhanced monitoring and control of the existing electrical grid to improved consumer energy management. Companies across the country stand ready to take a piece of the stimulus pie.
The funding will create tens of thousands of jobs across the country, including smart meter manufacturing workers, engineering technicians, IT system designers, business and power system analysts, and more. BPLG figures it will quadruple revenues and double its employees in the next three years as business increases. For now, the company will add five more software developers and one IT management employee.
Now it's Pittsburgh's turn to tell its clean energy story to the world. Local leaders and the newly formed U.S. Center for Energy Leadership (USCEL) have set that as a goal.
"Our regional energy industry includes more than 800 firms, contributes more than 10 percent to our regional gross product and supports – directly and indirectly – more than 105,000 jobs," says Kathryn Klaber, executive vice president, Allegheny Conference on Community Development. "The combination of experience and expertise in the Pittsburgh region means that Pittsburgh can do for energy what the Silicon Valley did for computing."
Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: Keith Schaefer, BPL Global
Photo of Keith Schaefer, BPLG, courtesy of the company.