Edison launches energy consultancy as utilities industry shifts

Edison International is launching a business that will help to reduce energy costs, improve efficiency and offer more environmentally-friendly options for large energy users. The company's new subsidiary, Edison Energy, combines three companies recently acquired by Edison International; two consultancies, EnerActive Solutions and Delta Energy Services and Altenex, a renewable energy procurement company. Edison Energy aims to help business to strategically plan for in changes affecting energy production and consumption in corporate buildings nationwide.

ROSEMEAD, Calif. — Betting that the future of the power industry lies in selling far more than just energy, Edison International, parent to one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, is starting a business to offer energy consulting and management services to commercial and industrial customers.

The business, Edison Energy, was announced on Tuesday and is aimed at helping large organizations like Fortune 500 companies take advantage of evolving technologies, markets and incentives in areas including energy efficiency, renewables and storage.

It is among the first major forays of a utility into energy management services, and is one of the more ambitious examples of how power companies are adapting to customers’ interest in producing and controlling their own electricity and the growing competition from ventures offering them the ability to do it.

While many utilities have tried to stem the flow of customers to alternative service providers, especially the new breed of rooftop solar installers, others are beginning to try to grab a piece of that business for themselves, whether teaming up with companies like Sunrun, a leading residential installer, or providing rooftop arrays themselves.