What do Westchester Medical Center, Regeneron, the U.S. Army and Navy, the Empire State Building, and the governments of Westchester County and New York City have in common? They’re all clients of a 25-person company on Bank Street in White Plains called NuEnergen.
Founded in 2008 by brothers Kevin Hamilton and A.V. “Sandy” Hamilton, NuEnergen is an energy-management-and-consulting company that specializes in helping large companies design and implement strategies for energy consumption that not only minimize the companies’ carbon footprints but also help them realize big monetary savings.
According to CEO/president Kevin Hamilton, a key way in which NuEnergen generates revenue for clients is as a provider of Demand Response services. The Demand Response program enables utility companies to prepare for high-energy-use periods (typically during summer) that protect its power grid and thereby avoid brownouts and blackouts.
For its part, NuEnergen — which Hamilton says has more buildings and more electricity demand enrolled in Demand Response programs in the NYC area than any other company — devises sophisticated yet customized energy-curtailment strategies for its clients through a Demand Response Operations Protocol, which reduces critical grid stress. That reduction of energy consumption, he adds, is critical to ensuring power-grid stability while obviating the necessity for new power-plant construction.
“This is a win-win for the region.”
—Kevin Hamilton
In return, NuEnergen clients receive payments from the utility company, which Hamilton says are significant — some have earned more than $10 million in a single year. “This is a win-win for the region,” says Hamilton. “On one hand, it’s an environmentally sustainable initiative, maximizing energy-efficiency while eliminating the need for new power plants. On the other hand, building owners are saving lots of money, with very little sacrifice, as do municipalities, which can use that revenue to reduce the burden on taxpayers” — exactly what County Executive George Latimer intends to do here in Westchester, according to Hamilton.
The success of the Demand Response program (accounting for approximately 85% of NuEnergen’s annual revenue) in concert with the revenue generated through consultation fees and risk management, as well as a 96% client-retention rate, have resulted in NuEnergen racking up 12.5% compound annual growth rate over eight years and in excess of $40 million in gross annual revenue.
