Common Energy

About Common Energy

Founded in 2017 by Richard Keiser, Common Energy operates as a community solar provider, aiming to make clean energy more accessible to the public. Mr. Keiser, an MIT graduate, brought extensive experience from the clean energy and technology sectors to this venture. His background includes serving as a Senior Analyst at Bernstein Research, where he analyzed disruptive technologies, and founding Level Solar, a residential solar installer he led to significant growth. This experience in managing residential customer relationships and project finance in the solar industry directly informed the creation of Common Energy, which was established to address the gap for developers who lacked the capability to acquire and manage residential subscribers for community solar projects.

Common Energy's business model centers on connecting households and businesses with local clean energy projects, a system often referred to as community solar. This model allows individuals, including renters and those in apartments, to benefit from solar energy without installing panels on their own properties. The company partners with solar project developers and manages customer subscriptions. Revenue is generated by being paid by these developers to subscribe and manage their clean energy projects, similar to how a property manager operates. This structure allows Common Energy to offer electricity to consumers at a discount, typically around 10%, without upfront costs for the subscriber. Since its inception, the company has raised approximately $19.8 million through several funding rounds, with notable investors including S2G Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Kimmeridge, and Builders Vision.

The service functions by linking a customer's existing utility account to a local solar farm. The clean energy produced by the farm is fed into the main power grid, and customers receive credits on their utility bills corresponding to their share of the energy generated. Common Energy consolidates billing, providing customers with a single monthly statement that shows their original utility charges, the clean energy credits applied, and the new, lower total cost. This software-based approach is designed to accelerate the adoption of clean energy by simplifying the consumer-facing side of solar energy deployment. The platform also serves project owners by offering a SaaS solution to manage and monetize these complex, multi-tenant energy projects, which enhances project return on investment.