Exelon's climate arm backs AI grid-planning firm Continuum — SkimNews
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- Exelon's Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i) became a minority investor in Continuum Industries and will roll out Continuum's "Optioneer" platform across its utility subsidiaries, which operate in the PJM interconnection across five states and the District of Columbia, per a Sept. 16 announcement.
- The 2c2i fund typically writes $100,000–$300,000 equity checks per cohort company from a $20 million remit launched in 2019 to back climate-focused startups operating in Exelon's major markets.
- Continuum's Optioneer platform handles grid connection planning, automated environmental risk and land-impact analysis, and project constraint mapping; the company says it has screened more than 420,000 miles of infrastructure alternatives to surface "lowest-impact and fastest-to-permit solutions."
- 2c2i Lead Faith Davis said rising electricity load and utilities' focus on "affordability and efficiency" drew the fund to transmission planning, calling it "an area where… we're looking for ways to make the process and the planning quicker and more efficient."
- Prior 2c2i portfolio companies have collectively raised more than $555 million in follow-on funding, created over 3,558 jobs, generated more than $548 million in revenue, and led to 1.2 million metric tons of CO2 avoided or removed, according to Exelon's August sustainability report.
Why it matters: For Exelon's PJM utilities spanning five states and D.C., Continuum's Optioneer becomes embedded in day-to-day grid planning at a moment of surging electricity demand. Continuum gains a marquee, multi-state utility deployment that goes well beyond the modest $100K–$300K equity check 2c2i typically writes — effectively a paid pilot for a much larger enterprise sales pipeline.
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