2024 brought some incredible changes to the energy space. The growing pressures on the grid—from AI adoption and shifting weather patterns to the rapid pace of electrification—really forced us to rethink how we approach grid stability and resilience.
Renewables have become the backbone of the energy transition, but let’s face it: integrating them at scale isn’t easy. They’re fundamentally different from the traditional baseload systems we’ve relied on for decades, and as an industry, we’re still learning how to optimize their integration. It’s not as simple as just adding more wind turbines or solar farms. What we’ve seen this year is a realization that we need to get smarter about how we build and manage the grid. That means investing in infrastructure that can handle extreme weather, leveraging AI and data to make the grid more responsive, and using energy storage solutions to balance everything out.
We also saw a noticeable shift in where investments are going. More and more, companies are prioritizing solutions—like what we do at Amperon—that focus on grid stability. Our forecasting tools have been a game-changer for customers. They’re helping people anticipate supply and demand fluctuations, which is huge when you’re dealing with volatile energy markets. Having that kind of visibility into the future gives our customers a lot of confidence. It’s not just about managing risks like price swings or demand surges; it’s about fundamentally changing the way we think about energy, making it more adaptable and resilient.
This year’s hurricane season really drove that point home. In Houston, where I live, we had a derecho in May that caused widespread outages, and then a hurricane in July that left parts of the city without power for over a week. Both events exposed some of the weaknesses in our infrastructure—aging equipment, poor vegetation management, etc. It was a wake-up call that while decarbonization is critical, we can’t lose sight of reliability. The good news is that these events are pushing the industry to take action and prioritize resilience in a way we haven’t seen before.
So, while 2024 hasn’t been without its challenges, it’s also been a year where we’ve made real progress. There’s a growing recognition that building a smarter, more resilient grid is possible, and it’s exciting to see how quickly the industry is moving to adapt.
It was a fantastic year for us, with three major milestones standing out.
This summer, we launched our energy forecasting services in Europe, serving customers that include renewable energy producers, financial institutions, and utilities. Our customers who buy and sell energy in these markets now benefit from enhanced visibility into short-term grid-level forecasts, including demand and solar and wind production, and portfolio and asset managers are now able to receive short- and long-term forecasts for their individual meters and generation assets.
We also formed a partnership with Microsoft that included moving our technology platform to Microsoft Azure, enabling seamless integration of Microsoft’s analytics stack with our forecasting data, while also collaborating closely with Microsoft’s Energy & Resources group to advance data solutions for the industry. Combining AI modeling and forecasting methodologies with Microsoft’s capabilities in the cloud, energy companies are better equipped with modern data capabilities to drive the energy transition.
Lastly, it was a year of tremendous growth for Amperon. Our team grew 33% in 2024, growing from 77 people on January 1, 2024 to 101 people today, all dedicated to helping our customers solve their forecasting challenges. I’m really proud of the strength of our company and what we’ve built—and will continue to build in the new year. We’ve achieved this growth while preserving our company culture and hitting key milestones along the way.
We saw a bit of this in 2024 and look forward to more of it in 2025, but every time the top technology companies come out with new weather technology—like Google Gencast—it’s a win for us. We see these innovations as opportunities, not competition. They’re helping us deliver even better results to our customers.
When a company like Google introduces new weather models, we can incorporate it into our forecasts. It’s a huge advantage because we’re not starting from scratch. Instead, we’re able to plug their new data directly into our existing systems and immediately see improvements in the accuracy of our forecasts. That means faster insights and better outcomes for our customers.
AI is driving massive change across our industry, and the impact it’s having on forecasting and grid management is only going to grow. The more companies like Google, Amazon, or NVIDIA invest in weather and climate tech, the more tools we have to work with. And because so much of this data is readily accessible, we can focus on what we do best—analyzing and delivering actionable insights.
At the end of the day, their advancements make us better, faster, and more accurate. We’re excited about what they’re building because it helps us push the boundaries of what’s possible. We’re always ready to adapt and take advantage of the latest breakthroughs.
One other topic on my radar for next year is the evolving dynamic between big tech, the utilities and the regulators. FERC blocking the co-location deal between Amazon and Talen Energy was big news, but it won’t be the end of the story, especially with a new administration coming into the White House that wants to cut regulations. Hyperscalers have the money to invest in innovative solutions, so, ultimately, if the U.S. wants to lead in AI, regulators will likely have to reach some compromises with technology companies.
One of the cooperative innovations I expect to see next year is more demand-side flexibility from the big data centers. They’re beginning to work out time-of-use contracts with their energy providers to shift heavy computation away from peak times of the day and to establish demand-response protocols.
It’s also going to be interesting to see what happens with the Texas Energy Fund (TEF) in ERCOT. It looks as though a lot of new natural gas generation may be coming online there soon, and it’s not just ERCOT. It appears IOUs across the Southeast are also preparing to go all-in on new natural gas plants.
As we look back on this year, it’s clear that 2024 was a period of tremendous growth for Amperon—both in terms of our product and our people. We expanded our capabilities, brought on incredible talent, and strengthened the foundation of our business. It was a year of building the muscle, honing our processes, and setting the stage for what’s to come.
Next year will be all about prioritization and focus. We’ve put the right people in the right places, and now it’s time to flex those muscles. Our focus will be on execution: delivering on our promises, maintaining our best-in-class forecast accuracy, and continuing to refine our product offerings to meet the evolving needs of our customers.
Here’s to 2025!