An open industry association

Leader in promoting the greater use of DC and hybrid AC/DC microgrids & power systems

EMerge Alliance Welcomes Emera Technologies to Governing Board

Alexandria, VA, USA, November 10, 2020 – The EMerge Alliance – an open industry association leading the rapid adoption of safe, direct-current (DC) and hybrid AC/DC power distribution standards for buildings, homes, campuses and communities – today announced the addition of Florida based Emera Technologies, a non-regulated subsidiary of the Canadian utility giant Emera Inc., to its Governing Board.

Representing Emera Technologies will be its President and CEO, Rob Bennet, a 30-year Emera veteran, commissioned by the utility to capitalize on business opportunities and develop new technologies related to energy transformation. Prior to this, Rob led Emera’s integration with TECO Energy, which Emera acquired in July 2016. His earlier leadership positions at Emera include Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Emera Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer at Nova Scotia Power, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Bangor Hydro Electric Company (now part of Emera Maine).

EMerge Chairman Brian Patterson, said “We look forward to the kind of bold leadership and forward thinking that Rob and his associates will bring to EMerge. Emera has become quite the leader in new power technology under Rob’s leadership. The utility has led in renewable energy investments and the use of high voltage direct current (HVDC) in the longest undersea cables in North America that enable the transmission of clean, renewable and reliable electricity from Newfoundland and Labrador to Nova Scotia. Rob has taken the theoretical advantages of direct current and put them to practical use in a big way at Emera, and is now ready to help expand its use and value throughout the electric power industry, beyond transmission, and right down to local distribution and community level microgrids with Emera Technologies’ first utility-focused business model for DER. BlockEnergy.”

“Emera’s strategic focus has been consistent for nearly 15 years— to safely deliver cleaner, affordable and reliable energy, by using cleaner and renewable sources of energy, modernizing our infrastructure, and investing in innovative technologies.  These simple objectives have led us to explore the greater use of direct current in ways not thought of before,” explained Bennet. “We’re always looking for ways to expand our influence on transforming the entire electric power industry to a more modern, safe, clean, resilient and sustainable one, and believe that working with EMerge will put more tools in our toolbox to get that job done.”

“In addition to gaining a seat on EMerge’s Board, Emera will also lead a new initiative in the organization’s standards effort,” said EMerge President, Tom Osterman.  “As part of our mission to create vanguard technical standards allowing the eventual integration of stand-alone microgrids into a literal “grid of grids,” the Board has appointed Gary Oppedahl, Emera Technologies VP, to head a newly formed technical committee chartered to develop a standard for the bi-directional interconnection of DC-coupled and bussed microgrids for use between individual nanogrids, neighborhood and community microgrids, and the points-of-common connection with AC grids.”

Oppedahl is no stranger to leading innovative initiatives and served as the city of Albuquerque’s director of economic development before joining Emera Technologies.  “We’re pleased to be leading the effort to enable advanced, distributed, intelligent microgrids to be integrated into, and become a seminal part of, a more resilient and sustainable power grid,” said Oppedahl. “As early movers in developing multi-tier, DC-coupled microgrid infrastructure, our staff has become subject matter experts in this emerging field and we hope to share that expertise with others in the industry through our involvement in EMerge.”

The EMerge Alliance’s Growing Standards Portfolio

The EMerge Alliance continues to work toward completing new vanguard power standards to achieve net-zero-energy buildings and campuses and highly resilient neighborhood and community microgrids. The rest of the portfolio of standards work at EMerge includes Residential Nanogrids, Commercial Industrial Nanogrids, Information/Communications Technology (ICT) Nanogrids, EV Charging Infrastructure, Indoor Agriculture Nanogrids, DC Metering and Dual Input AC/DC Power Supply.

About the EMerge Alliance

The EMerge Alliance is a non-profit open industry association containing commercial, government and academic member organizations developing standards leading to the rapid adoption of hybrid AC/DC microgrids in commercial/industrial and residential buildings, neighborhoods and communities. EMerge standards integrate building and campus infrastructures, power, controls and devices in microgrid platforms to facilitate the hybrid use of AC and DC power.  The standards facilitate greater energy resiliency and sustainability while maximizing the potential to use of distributed clean and renewable local energy. Learn more at https://www.emergealliance.org or for direct support help@emergealliance.org

About Emera Technologies LLC Emera Technologies LLC, (ETL) is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., a utility with $34B in assets and operations in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean. Leading the way forward to deliver cleaner, affordable energy that’s safe and reliable. Launched with utility, technology and renewable energy experts at the helm, ETL is developing new ways to deliver renewable energy to utility customers and capitalizing on the disruptive challenges and innovation opportunities in today’s energy industry. Makers of BlockEnergy, the first utility-focused business model delivering a distributed energy solution using smart controls, able to provide renewable power to new residential communities. Emera Technologies is engaged in new community builds across North America with residential builders and local utilities utilizing BlockEnergy to provide the world’s most advanced, reliable power available. Visit BlockEnergy.com and sign-up to get the latest news on Emera Technologies products, projects and technical innovations.

About Emera Inc.

Emera Inc. is a geographically diverse energy and services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with approximately $34 billion in assets and annual revenues of $6 billion. The company primarily invests in regulated electricity generation and electricity and gas transmission and distribution with a strategic focus on transformation from high carbon to low carbon energy sources. Emera has investments throughout North America, and in four Caribbean countries. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade respectively under the symbol EMA, EMA.PR.A, EMA.PR.B, EMA.PR.C, EMA.PR.E, EMA.PR.F and EMA.PR.H. Depositary receipts representing common shares of Emera are listed on the Barbados Stock Exchange under the symbol EMABDR and on The Bahamas International Securities Exchange under the symbol EMAB. Additional Information can be accessed at Emera.com or at SEDAR.com.For direct contact:  info@emera.com

About the BlockEnergy Smart Platform 

Developed by Emera Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Emera Inc., the BlockEnergy Smart Platform is the world’s first utility-focused, front-of-the-meter, distributed renewable energy platform for new communities of all sizes. The first truly plug-and-play energy system, BlockEnergy is comprised of a simple kit of parts, able to be installed by local utilities as a capital asset to deliver the most advanced, secure, resilient power available. Scalable, stormproof and able to interoperate seamlessly with the local grid when needed, BlockEnergy puts rooftop solar, energy storage and smart distributed controls throughout new communities. These homes are joined together in a network, creating self-sustaining BlockLoops, able to independently power homes without disruption. Learn more at BlockEnergy.com and connect with Emera Technologies on LinkedIn for the latest product news and BlockEnergy developments.

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