GridLiance
Calvin Crowder is the CEO of GridLiance.
Hey, smaller public power and cooperative utilities need reliable and strategically-positioned transmission too. It's not just for the big guys. That's the reason why GridLiance was formed a half dozen years ago, and that's the reason why energy giant NextEra Energy is adding them to its family via a recently-announced deal.
See, NextEra is the largest developer of wind and solar generating facilities, and it knows that more and more transmission transfer capacity will be sorely needed to transmit green power to the nation's load centers. They apparently believe GridLiance can contribute to that vision, and if you read what GridLiance CEO Calvin Crowder had to say to us the other day, you may become a believer too.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: What is GridLiance and where do you fit in the transmission world?
Calvin Crowder: GridLiance was founded in 2014 by a couple of folks who came out of ITC and saw a niche in the transmission market. Blackstone bought into the company and invested in its growth.
After Order 1000 was passed, everybody was gearing up for competitive bidding. Over the past few years, we haven't seen that take off. But that was only a small part of our business model. Our efforts are to build partnerships with an important — but overlooked — segment of the industry. Munis and co-ops.