Michael Chua
PowerShift Contributor
First Published Q2 2025
Looking back at a history of transformation to define what comes next for a clean energy future: GridX co-founder Scott Engstrom reveals how data, persistence, and a bold vision turned smart meter chaos into a utility revolution. From investor to innovator, his journey offers a roadmap for the grid of tomorrow.
From Wall Street Analyst to Grid Revolutionary
In 2010, while the world buzzed about the newly released iPad, posted its first selfies on Instagram, and flocked to Facebook by the hundreds of millions each day, Scott Engstrom was fixated on something far less glamorous: electricity meters. Not exactly a conversation starter at cocktail parties – unless, like Engstrom, you could see the seismic shift they represented.
“Smart meters were going to be a massive step change – from 12 data points a year to 24 per day,” Engstrom recalls. “That meant a whole new technological ecosystem would be needed.” This insight propelled the former utility investor to co-found GridX, a company now powering the rate lifecycle for many of the United States’ largest utilities. In doing so, he helped redefine how the entire industry approaches rate design, marketing, and billing.
The Five-Year Wait for Validation
Before GridX, Engstrom spent two decades in finance scrutinizing utility investments. “My job was to second-guess business managers and decide whether their strategies would succeed … But, I never had to build or manage anything myself,” he explains.
Eventually, the desire to create – not just critique – drove him toward entrepreneurship. “I wanted to lead, motivate, inspire, and solve real problems.”
The “real problem” was clear: utilities faced increasing operational complexity with tightening resources in a highly regulated environment. “Software is one way you could actually [solve] that. Software could automate manual processes, provide insight from big data, and help utilities educate, engage with, and market to customers more effectively,” he says. “We believed GridX could become a core e-enabling technology for the clean energy transition. If you really believe in something — and you’re getting the feedback — stick with it. Believe in yourself, believe in what you have in your core thesis, and have persistence.”
Belief, however, didn’t translate to immediate success. For five long years, GridX operated without customers. Then came the breakthrough moment. On July 3, 2015, the California Public Utilities Commission mandated that investor-owned utilities transition customers to default time-of-use rates.
“That was the turning point,” Engstrom says. “Two of the largest utilities in the U.S., PG&E and Southern California Edison, realized they needed a platform that could deliver the kind of rate analysis required to meet that final order to deliver personalized customer insights and support regular communications related to that transition. GridX was the only technology that could do it.”
Transforming Utility Data Into Customer Empowerment
With the proliferation of smart meters, utilities suddenly had access to thousands of new data points per customer. The challenge was making this information actionable.
“The first phase of GridX was about corralling that data,” says Engstrom. “Then we layered on personalization. We could show customers how they use energy, when they use it, and which of the available rates makes the most sense for them.”
GridX tools like Empower, Explore, and Advise now enable utilities to offer rate comparisons, educate customers on usage patterns, and guide them toward cleaner, more affordable energy choices—creating transparency previously unimaginable in the sector. “Our design team elevated the experience,” Engstrom says. “We made it intuitive, insightful, and useful – not just for utilities, but for the end users too.”
“We believed GridX could become a core e-enabling technology for the clean energy transition. If you really believe in something — and you’re getting the feedback — stick with it. Believe in yourself, believe in what you have in your core thesis, and have persistence.”
Breaking Down Operational Silos
For Engstrom, transformation isn’t just rhetoric—it’s an operating principle. “Historically, utilities worked in silos across the organization—rate design over here, grid ops over there, customer service somewhere else,” he explains. “That used to work, and they were able to maintain the poles and wires and generate enough power. But today, when creating load flexibility is critical to ensuring grid stability and keeping costs down, those groups must collaborate. You flip a switch, and the light comes on. That’s the miracle. But now, people want convenience and control – and utilities need to deliver both.”
Take EV charging as an example: “If utilities want to encourage off-peak charging, they need coordinated rate design groups, communications, marketing, call center readiness, and grid operations. That’s a completely new organizational approach.” GridX doesn’t merely provide software – it facilitates the organizational transformation required to make these changes stick.
From Headwind to Tailwind: The EV Revolution
What has surprised Engstrom most over the past decade? “Probably how utilities initially feared electric vehicles—something that would sell more of their product, substantially more, and they really resisted,” he laughs. “Now industry players embrace EVs as part of their growth strategy.”
This shift mirrors a broader industry evolution. After years of flat or declining usage, electricity demand is now projected to grow 4-5% annually—something not seen in over 50 or 60 years. “That sounds incremental, but it’s revolutionary,” Engstrom notes. “Each 2 to 3 percentage point increase in electricity usage could necessitate 20 to 50 new power plants per year. Planning infrastructure at that scale is no small feat.”
Navigating the Electrified Future
In the next five years, Engstrom predicts accelerated adoption of electric vehicles, heat pumps, battery storage, and real-time pricing models. In the next 20 years, the biggest wildcard? Battery technology.
“Batteries are storage for electricity,” he says. “If battery technology advances quickly, such that they can be big enough and located in enough places, we may not need as much demand flexibility. We can depend a lot more on solar and wind and deal with all the variability of clouds coming in or it not being windy for a minute, because we can rely on those batteries. Meanwhile, our work remains essential.”
He also anticipates tech giants like Google or Amazon assuming larger roles. “Most customers don’t want to track energy prices hour by hour. Those companies could act as intermediaries, managing volatility for a fixed fee.” And yes, AI will be transformative – not just for analytics, but by training devices to respond autonomously to pricing signals and grid conditions.
Engstrom’s Playbook for Industry Transformation
To utilities: Embrace choice. “No single rate solves everything. Provide choices to your customers and let them pick the right plan for their lifestyle.”
To regulators: Foster innovation. “The system was built for caution. But transformation requires faster decision-making and openness to new models. Be tolerant of new business models.”
To customers: Become energy-conscious. “You may be overpaying without knowing it. A little attention can lead to real savings—and real impact. Understand what your utility offers and get a little curious about how to manage your bill.”
“Foster innovation. The system was built for caution. But transformation requires faster decision-making and openness to new models.”
The Next Chapter for GridX
Fifteen years after founding GridX, Engstrom remains energized. “We’ve grown from three of us to over 140 employees today and raised nearly $60 million. But honestly, we’re just getting started. We are helping utilities transform themselves,” he states. Of the 3,000+ utilities in the U.S., GridX serves just 25 of the largest ones today. “That’s a great start, but it means there are thousands of organizations we can still help.”
“Ultimately, [success is] tied to the personal and professional success of building and providing products that are very valuable, that solve real, potentially hard, problems,” Engstrom emphasizes. “The ideas of helping customers who can’t afford electricity have alternatives and of creating a better environment—that allows my grandchildren to live without cancer, or whatever the terrible outcomes of the path were on, with carbon in the climate, might be—define victory.”
As America embarks on its most significant grid transformation since the 1950s, Engstrom’s message resonates beyond the energy sector: “Meaningful transformation is possible. Persistence through uncertainty pays off. And the energy space—for all its complexity—offers unparalleled opportunities to create lasting, meaningful change.”
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