No Days Off for the Patriots and EnerNOC

Just like Bill Belichick famously stated after winning Super Bowl LI last month, EnerNOC appears to be taking “no days off” lately. There has been a series of project wins and partnerships announced in various parts of its business since the beginning of the year. However, the biggest bombshell came during its 2016 annual results earnings call on March 14. CEO Tim Healy revealed that the company has hired advisors and is already in the process of exploring new potential corporate structures such as divestiture of business lines or a full sale of the company.

Let’s start with the most recent positive project news that the company signed a 2-year contract with Taiwan Power Company to provide 200 MW of demand response (DR) as the exclusive provider. Taiwan has experienced very low electricity capacity reserve margins lately, and since it is a densely populated island with an abundance of mountains and rainforest, there is not a lot of land to build new power plants. EnerNOC entered into a joint venture with a local Taiwanese energy services company, Cheng Long Intelligent Engineering, to get quick access to a number of large commercial and industrial customers that are good candidates for DR. When I spoke with EnerNOC President David Brewster, he said that the program compares to other markets in North America and Asia in terms of capacity-based DR, baseline rules, dispatch requirements, and payment rates.

Bigger Picture

Looking at the bigger picture, the company has come to the realization that its corporate structure may not be optimally arranged to maximize shareholder value. On the earnings call, CEO Healy mentioned multiple times that EnerNOC’s business is complex, hard for investors to understand, and prone to market forces outside of its control. The software business had already been restructured last year, but it now appears that a more holistic review is in play.

I would not necessarily say that this news comes as a surprise. I wrote multiple blogs last year about Oracle’s acquisition of Opower and EnerNOC’s restructuring of its software business in which I pondered the ideal business model for DR companies in general, and EnerNOC specifically. Now the truth is out in the open. The possible options include selling off part of the business and remaining a smaller independent entity, being bought out and going private, or being bought by a larger corporation. CEO Healy made it clear on the earnings call that the wheels are already in motion and he expects a quick resolution soon.

Whatever the outcome, I hope the resulting organization is able to maintain its leading position in the DR industry and continue to push for the global expansion of this important grid resource.