WattShift

WattShift provides an API layer that consolidates grid economics data for builders of energy software. Its Price Signals product aggregates five categories of grid inputs — utility tariffs, wholesale market prices, solar export compensation, demand response events, and carbon intensity — into a single weighted price indicator that devices and platforms can act on. Its Impact Calculations product models the dollar, bill, and carbon outcomes of device operation across configurations and tariff scenarios, supporting use cases such as solar-plus-battery ROI under export regimes like NEM 3.0 and VDER, device savings estimation, tariff switching analysis, and marginal cost analysis for EV charging sessions.

Both products run on WattShift's own Utility Rate Database, which the company describes as covering more than 2,000 utilities and more than 25,000 rate plans across the United States and Canada, providing product-ready tariff and export rules so that customers do not build utility logic themselves. Developer-facing materials include quickstart documentation, authentication and API key provisioning, and an API reference.

The company also presents a partner-facing offering of white-label applications and APIs for solar installers, DER OEMs, service providers, and property managers, positioning continuous monitoring of grid conditions and prices to shift device operation. Its earlier consumer product connected automatically to a homeowner's smart devices through an app and shifted electricity usage of equipment such as HVAC systems and water heaters to cheaper and cleaner periods.

Founding story

Founder Will Blanchard's focus on the grid dated to his undergraduate years, when he founded a first startup in the residential energy sector, followed by roughly eight years working in the industry, including at a public company on smart thermostats and energy and later at a residential energy data startup. He enrolled at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to build a company and formed WattShift during his first spring semester as an evolution of his earlier venture, with the initial aim of having home smart devices such as HVAC systems and water heaters automatically shift electricity usage to times when power is cheaper and cleaner at no cost to the homeowner.

Business model

WattShift sells software and APIs to companies that build energy software and devices rather than selling primarily to end consumers. Its API products — Price Signals, Impact Calculations, and the underlying Utility Rate Database — are offered to developers who obtain an API key and integrate endpoints into their own products. The partners page also describes a white-label app and API offering for solar installers, DER OEMs, service providers, and property managers. In its earlier consumer-facing configuration, the company described a model in which homeowners paid nothing and WattShift took a set, agreed-upon percentage of all savings earned, sourcing its revenue from grid incentive payments rather than from the homeowner's bill savings.

Revenue is generated from software and API products sold to energy software builders and partners, including white-label applications. The consumer-facing model described by the founder relies on grid incentive revenue, with WattShift taking a fixed agreed-upon share of the savings generated and the homeowner paying nothing.

Traction

The company reported customers and letters of intent from potential partners coming out of the 2023 New Venture Challenge, and by November 2024 described a consumer app available for download, a growing team, early partnerships with energy industry companies, and ongoing discussions with major OEMs. Its Utility Rate Database is stated to cover more than 2,000 utilities and more than 25,000 rate plans across the US and Canada.

Latest developments

WattShift's current positioning centers on three API surfaces — Price Signals, Impact Calculations, and its own Utility Rate Database covering more than 2,000 utilities and more than 25,000 rate plans in the US and Canada — after the company moved off third-party rate data and built its own rate engine. As of November 2024 the company reported an app available for download, a growing team, early partnerships, discussions with major OEMs, and an expansion of its device scope from HVAC to water heaters and, prospectively, batteries and electric vehicles.