Exelon Climate Arm Backs AI Grid Planner Continuum — SkimNews
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- Exelon's Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i) announced a minority investment in Continuum Industries on Sept. 16, adding the startup to the fund's cohort of climate-focused companies.
- The 2c2i fund, launched in 2019 with a $20 million mandate, typically invests $100,000 to $300,000 in equity to fill funding gaps for cohort companies, according to 2c2i Lead Faith Davis.
- Continuum Industries' 'Optioneer' platform, built out since the company's 2018 launch, will be deployed across Exelon's family of utility companies, which operate in the PJM interconnection across five states and Washington, D.C.
- Continuum said it has used Optioneer to screen more than 420,000 miles of infrastructure alternatives, helping developers find the lowest-impact and fastest-to-permit solutions for grid projects.
- Previous 2c2i cohort companies have collectively raised more than $555 million in follow-on funding, created more than 3,558 jobs, generated more than $548 million in revenue, and avoided or removed 1.2 million metric tons of CO2, per Exelon's August sustainability report.
- Exelon added two other startups — Public Grid and Backstop — to its 2c2i cohort last month, and the fund's current application round closes Sept. 27.
Why it matters: Exelon, one of the largest U.S. investor-owned utilities, is putting an AI-driven transmission planning tool into actual deployment across its five-state PJM service territory at a moment of surging electricity demand. Continuum's Optioneer has already screened 420,000 miles of route alternatives, and the deal signals utilities' growing appetite to integrate startups' AI into core grid workflows — even at venture-scale check sizes capped below $300,000 per company within a $20 million fund.
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