Who is UWB Energy?
UWB Energy is a private utility and alternative to the traditional electricity grid. We deliver an on-site power solution that is affordable, resilient, and clean with our Integrated Energy Platform™ (IEP™).
Tell us about yourself?
Craig has over 30 years of senior management experience in the energy industry, specializing in power marketing, facility operations, electrical, and oil and gas process controls. He has a rich and practical understanding of Canadian and U.S.A. Power markets and has developed an extensive network of experts around the globe in the fields of electrical power generation, electrical deregulation, oil and gas process, and environmental emissions. He has deep experience with the North American and Global Energy Markets, including Electrical and Natural Gas Utilities, Oil and Mining and related end-user contracts. Additionally, Craig has directed Power Plant, Transmission/ Distribution/Grid projects as well as oil and gas midstream projects in North America.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Stay focused and always follow your dreams. Be proud of the achievements to date and continue to strive for continued excellence. Always continue to consider the 3 p’s, planet, people, and prosperity in every business decision.
What problem does your business solve?
The Problem Electricity Markets in North America are Challenged. Utilities are challenged to meet the increased demand created by “the electrification of everything”. Power resiliency, availability, quality, and reliability are significant concerns for end customers today.
Princeton University predicts electrifying just U.S.A. transport and buildings alone will result in doubling the amount of electricity used in the U.S. by 2050. A fundamental truth about energy today: “The electrification of everything is coming, and we’re just not ready for it.” By 2028, its projected, that the total global power footprint of edge IT and edge data centers would be 102,000 megawatts.
Bloomberg recently estimated that about one per cent of the world’s electricity goes to cloud computing. That figure is poised to grow exponentially over the next decade. Bloomberg reckons that, globally, we might exit the 2020s needing as much as eight per cent of all electricity to power the future cloud.
Cloud Computing’s Coming Energy Crisis. “The cloud’s electricity needs are growing unsustainably.”
What is the inspiration behind your business?
We are a Canadian company with Canadian IP, and we intend to take our solution global while keeping all of the ultimate value in Canada. Electricity today is life, so reliable, secure power is necessary, and the old traditional centralized utility grid was not designed to provide the reliability necessary.
The Private Utility Model
As the primary utility provider, UWB Energy pays for, installs, operates, and maintains an IEP™ that is located on your property. The IEP™ sits on-site much like an air conditioning unit and provides the client with 100 per cent of their required electricity. It’s dedicated to supply electricity to the client’s site.
The client’s only obligation is to pay a fixed monthly fee for the electricity used under an Energy Services Agreement (ESA). There is zero upfront capital involved from the client.
Economic
- Lower long term energy costs
- Predictable, fixed pricing that allows for more accurate financial projections
- No upfront capital expenditure is required
Resiliency
- Receive multiple sources of power which provides a fully redundant power solution
- Blackouts and brownouts are eliminated, improved power quality
- Avoid the vulnerabilities of undependable transmission and distribution lines power quality
Carbon – Zero
- Sustainable energy solution that reduces CO2 emissions by producing electricity onsite
- IEP™ produces heat and cooling that can be incorporated back into your facility, providing further economic and environmental benefits
- Systems are 100 per cent green hydrogen compliant that will be phased in as hydrogen becomes commercially mainstream
What is your magic sauce?
We have created an integrated solution that takes various existing technologies and packages them into a superior solution. We add a very sophisticated digital control platform on top. We provide all of the necessary funding so our clients do not have to use any of their core capital to receive all of the power benefits we provide. This provides them all the power security they need so they can spend their capital on growing their business. We have a unique patent that covers the entire solution – something like the McDonalds happy meal, we don’t patent the components like the hamburger, fries, and drink, we patent the whole package. So if someone puts onsite generation and offers it in a private utility model, they would fall under our patent.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
To role out projects across north America. All of our clients are multinationals, so we will continue to add our solution to all of their sites. We anticipate having over $1B in assets under management by 2030.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Bridging the gap between individual project financing and institutional infrastructure funds. The major infrastructure funds love what we are doing. However, they like to start at $100M plus as an initial traunch.
How can people get involved?
C level staff at investment grade firms. Once the c level executives understands the concept, the rest of the sale process goes very smoothly.