Smart Infrastructure firm Aclara Technologies LLC (“Aclara”) was named a finalist for the prestigious 2016 Platts Global Energy Awards, an annual program recognizing exemplary industry leadership, in three categories: CEO of the Year, Rising Star Award−Company and Strategic Deal of the Year. Winners will be recognized December 8 at a gala in New York City.
Aclara was one of eight companies selected for recognition in three or more categories. The 2016 finalists, chosen from over 170 nominees from 30 nominating countries, were announced recently by program host S&P Global Platts, the leading global provider of energy and commodities information and spot market benchmarks.
Established in 1999 and often described as the Oscars of the energy industry, the Platts Global Energy Awards highlight corporate and individual innovation, leadership and superior performance in 18 categories that span the entire energy complex.
“It is an honor to be selected as a finalist in three major categories by the Platts judges,” said Aclara President and CEO Allan Connolly, “This recognition is an important milestone for Aclara, and a strong indicator that the energy industry recognizes the importance of our innovative smart infrastructure solutions to electric and natural gas utilities around the world.”
“Our recent acquisitions, coupled with our own developments, are helping utilities address challenges and open the door to new opportunities in the distribution grid. As we look to the future we are looking forward to serving our utility customers effectively for many years to come,” Connolly added.
Aclara was selected in the following three categories:
CEO of the Year
Mr. Connolly joined Aclara as the President and CEO in May 2014, when Sun Capital Partners purchased the company from ESCO Technologies. In two years under his leadership, Aclara has doubled in size and significantly increased sales revenue, order backlog and bottom-line profits. It is with these accomplishments that he was selected as a finalist for CEO of the year.
Rising Star Award−Company
Aclara’s growth as a company, as well as its innovative product development, qualified it for consideration in the Rising Star Award−Company category. In the past year alone, Aclara has introduced a comprehensive networking solution for electric utilities as well as innovative software for fault detection and localization, What’s more, it has expanded its product and solutions portfolio to electric meters and grid monitoring with smart grid sensors.
Strategic Deal of the Year
Aclara’s acquisition of the electric meters business from the GE Energy Management’s Grid Solutions subdivision led to its nomination in the Strategic Deal of the Year category. Aclara is the top supplier of electric smart meters in North America, according to Navigant Research, with a 28.6 percent cumulative share of planned smart meter deployments.
Hundreds of energy industry representatives are expected to attend the 2016 Platts Global Energy Awards black-tie dinner gala in New York City on December 8. The awards program will be emceed by CNBC Reporter Jackie DeAngelis.
Preceding the Awards program, finalists and other industry executives will take part in the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum, a platform for exploration and debate of industry-critical issues by energy executives, government officials and academics.
Founded in 1909, Platts is the commodities information arm of S&P Global and a premier source of benchmark price references, with news, data and information coverage spanning biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemicals, shipping and sugar.
About Aclara
Aclara Technologies LLC is a world-class supplier of smart infrastructure solutions (SIS) to more than 780 water, gas, and electric utilities globally. Aclara SIS offerings include smart meters and other field devices, advanced metering infrastructure and software and services that enable utilities to predict and respond to conditions, leverage their distribution networks effectively and engage with their customers. Aclara Technologies LLC is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners.
