By Michael Kuser

Before joining energy aggregator PowerOptions as president and CEO in January 2020, Heather March Takle took steps to upgrade the company’s IT functionality, especially communications.

Her decision meant the team of 10 employees was prepared to work remotely when the company started doing so March 8 in reaction to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts and the rest of the country.

“COVID-19 has been quite a surprise and helped accelerate my learning curve,” Takle told RTO Insider in an interview.

The largest energy-buying consortium in New England, PowerOptions purchases $200 million in energy each year to serve nearly 500 nonprofit and public entities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The firm provides energy cost savings and predictability to hospitals, schools, museums and other clients. Takle also advocates for her clients as an end-user sector member of the New England Power Pool and participant in ISO-NE planning processes.

A Nonprofit Helping Nonprofits

PowerOptions grew from a quasi-public agency in Massachusetts and became a fully private nonprofit a decade ago under the leadership of Cindy Arcate, whom Takle replaced as head of the company. It is funded by membership dues and payments from its energy suppliers, which are chosen through competitive solicitations. Direct Energy supplies the natural gas; Constellation Energy supplies the electricity; SunPower is the developer for its large-scale solar program; and Solect Energy is the developer for the small systems solar program. For the fiscal year that ended in June 2018, it reported revenues of almost $3.4 million and expenses of $3.5 million.

Takle, who previously held executive positions with Patriot Energy Group and Ameresco, was recruited from her own startup, 2ndPath Energy, which provided energy companies with strategic and development advice.

“Before coming in, I knew how strong the team was. … The surprising thing was not realizing how much of an impact the members’ missions would make on me,” Takle said. “I knew it conceptually, at a high level. The premise of being a nonprofit serving other nonprofits in that mission-driven basis is part of what attracted me to the role.”

In the first couple of months, her No. 1 goal was to meet as many members as possible.

“It’s a member-driven organization, so I need to understand and hear from them, so I’ve gotten to meet maybe a third of our members, and it’s really been fantastic to hear about their missions and to get pulled in,” she said. “The team did warn me that I’d start opening my checkbook because I want to start donating after having all these conversations.”

PowerOptions members include some of the organizations most affected by the coronavirus crisis, from shuttered schools to hospitals on the front lines. Some clients fall between the cracks in terms of defined missions.

“Senior living, for example. They’re not health care institutions — the assisted living and the independent living [facilities] — so what they’re dealing with is really difficult and tragic, and they’re not getting a lot of support from the state governments because they’re not designated as health care institutions,” Takle said.

Outreach Campaign

The new CEO has led her small firm on a campaign since the pandemic started, trying to figure out how they can help its members.

“Because as a nonprofit ourselves we care, so we decided two weeks ago to do an outreach campaign and just get on the phone and start calling, including myself, and that’s part of how I’ve been able to talk to a third of our members,” Takle said.

Some of the discussions concern energy needs that are particular to the current environment but also touch on topics outside of energy.

“We’re just trying to brainstorm how we can help. We haven’t announced it publicly yet, but we’ve been able to put together a philanthropic fund to support our members. We’re still in the detail planning stage of trying to figure out how that will get distributed out, but we’re going to try to support our members in what little way we can.

“Some of that will be financial, but I spent the weekend trying to find sources of supplies for masks and sanitizer. For some of our members, it’s not just the financial need, but for the ones on the health care side, it’s a personnel and supply need.

“We’re trying to be creative, because if it’s anything I learned in my first couple of months with this team, it’s that they will stop at nothing to support our members,” Takle said.

The company is planning to host a webinar focusing on changes in the energy market driven by the pandemic, as well as just general energy industry dynamics, such as oil and gas pricing.

“It’s been heartening to see, as usually happens in a crisis, the best of everyone, the creativity and the bonding that has come through, and the support for our members,” Takle said.

Renewable Dreaming

Long-term dreams for the organization include doing for renewable energy what it has done for electric and gas for its members.

“[That] might require some really unique partnerships with organizations outside of the nonprofit community. As an example, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts might be one such partner, though we haven’t discussed it with them. But we could be helping for-profits in that way, using the power of a consortium that’s larger than PowerOptions in order to drive down pricing, an opportunity to source renewable energy for much more than our own membership,” Takle said.

“Hopefully the message is well received that the ISO, NEPOOL and others remember that we’re there speaking on behalf of the end-users, and that we’ll be a consistent voice, one of the only voices there besides the attorneys general and the offices of consumer counsel.

“Of course, we’re speaking on behalf of governmental and nonprofit entities, but that kind of covers commercial and industrial as well, which there aren’t really specific voices for. We’ll be carrying on that legacy that Cindy was well known for.

“We will continue to advocate on behalf of our members for their needs, which includes lower costs, as well as, in the future, an ability to access renewable energy at efficient costs,” Takle said.