Table of Contents
⚠ Disclaimer: This entry may be incomplete, out of date, or inaccurate. It is AI-maintained on a best-effort basis. Do not rely on it as a sole source — verify claims independently using the sources listed below.
Summary
CPower is a commercial & industrial (C&I) demand-response and distributed energy resource aggregation company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, formed in November 2014 through the merger of the C&I demand-response business units of Comverge and Constellation. Since December 2018 it has operated as a standalone portfolio company of LS Power, a power-sector investment firm, and it grew significantly through the October 2022 acquisition of Centrica Business Solutions’ US demand-response division.
Key Facts
- Founded: November 2014, as a merger of Comverge’s and Constellation’s C&I demand-response units
- HQ: Baltimore, Maryland
- Founding CEO: John Horton (former CFO of Comverge), retired 2023
- Current CEO: Michael D. Smith, since July 2023 (25+ years energy-sector experience)
- Ownership: Acquired by LS Power (power generation/infrastructure investment firm) in December 2018 from H.I.G. Capital (having operated under the trade name “CPower” as Enerwise Global Technologies, Inc.); continues to operate as a standalone entity under LS Power
- Type: C&I demand-response and DER aggregation platform
- Key acquisition: Centrica Business Solutions’ US demand-response division, closed October 2022 — substantially increased CPower’s capacity and market presence
What It Is / How It Works
CPower operates in the same general C&I demand-response model as Voltus and Enel North America: it signs up business and industrial energy users, aggregates their ability to curtail or shift consumption, and bids that flexibility into wholesale electricity markets and utility demand-response programs on their behalf, sharing the resulting revenue with participating customers. Its lineage traces back to Comverge and Constellation’s demand-response units — both early, foundational players in the C&I demand-response industry that predates today’s VPP branding — and its 2018 acquisition by LS Power gave it access to a large power-sector capital base and asset network rather than independent VC funding, distinguishing its ownership structure from venture-backed peers like Voltus.
Notable Developments
- 2022-10: Completed acquisition of Centrica Business Solutions’ US demand-response division, a significant scale increase for CPower’s C&I portfolio.
- 2023-07: Michael D. Smith became CEO, succeeding retiring founding CEO John Horton.
- 2018-12: LS Power completed its acquisition of CPower Energy Management (Enerwise Global Technologies, Inc.) from H.I.G. Capital.
- 2014-11: CPower formed via merger of Comverge’s and Constellation’s C&I demand-response business units, with John Horton as founding President and CEO.
Key People
Michael D. Smith — Chief Executive Officer, since July 2023; 25+ years of energy-sector experience prior to CPower.
- LinkedIn: not found (not searched in this session — TODO: verify)
John Horton — Founding President and CEO (2014–2023), previously CFO of Comverge; retired 2023.
- LinkedIn: not found (not searched in this session — TODO: verify)
Full current executive roster beyond the CEO was not independently confirmed via a current-dated source as of this review — TODO: verify.
Key People — Last Reviewed: 2026-07-18
Claim Verification
No specific technical or performance claims (e.g., a named capacity figure, cost-savings percentage) were identified for independent verification in the sources reviewed for this entry — CPower’s public materials reviewed were primarily corporate/M&A announcements. TODO: revisit with a specific claim (e.g., total MW under management) once a fetched, current-dated source with that figure is located.