About Us
We ensure the consumer perspective in Smart Grid transitions.
Founder and President
John Cooper, clean energy network consultant, has 30 years experience in entrepreneurial, consulting, business development, sales, marketing, political, and research roles. Key consulting clients have included Austin Energy, Tropos Networks, Cellnet (now Landis+Gyr), the City of San Marcos, Xtreme Power, the Pecan Street Project, and Sharp Labs of America. John's two engagements with the electric utility pioneer Austin Energy highlight his Smart Grid background. With the GENie Project in 2004 and 2005, John examined broadband technologies as enhancements to electric utility operations, laying the foundation for the utility's groundbreaking Smart Grid program. In 2009, John returned to support the Pecan Street Project as project leader of the Smart Grid committee, which captured the vision of Austin Energy's Smart Grid 2.0 vision.
John is the author of the Pecan Street Project Phase One Technical Report, which will be published in Spring 2010. From 2006-2008, John published metronetiq.com, a community broadband website and in 2008, John wrote his first book, The ABCs of Community Broadband, as a guide for city officials considering an investment in a citywide broadband network. John's early career in electricity from 1996-2000 featured work on pioneer wireless AMR and energy data software at CSW Communications. John helped to found the Texas Senate Research Center in 1986. John has an MBA with honors from the McCombs Graduate School of Business and a BA in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.
Asssociates
Embracing the vision of the virutal organization, ecomergence works with a variety of associates on projects.
Company History
John consulted in broadband and energy under the brand name MetroNetIQ from 2003-2008. In the fall of 2008, as the national and global economy decline began to unfold, press accounts began to chronicle a new argument - that the world could not afford to address climate change given the depressed economic conditions - it was either save the economy or save the planet. Recognizing that efforts to be more efficient and eliminate waste nearly always have a beneficial impact on the environment, John coined the term "ecomergence" to recognize the connection between economy and ecology and to shift the focus of his consulting practice to sustainability. John began with local solar PV installers, and soon landed a contract with a pioneer energy storage firm, Xtreme Power. The Pecan Street Project work followed in 2009, and in 2010 Sharp Labs contracted with Ecomergence. But it was writing the Pecan Street Project report that helped to further define a new attitude for energy reform, focused on integrating consumer perspectives and needs into energy and utility planning.
The Pecan Street Project storyline has three threads that inform the strategic direction of Ecomergence.
Thus, Ecomergence has become a consulting practice that is drawn consistently to the cutting edge of change in energy and environmental policy and practice. And today that cutting edge pivots on the need to bring consumers along with the Smart Grid transformation. The billions of dollars to be spent on Smart Grid will come from energy consumers - we need to listen to them, adapt the system to their needs, and bring them along for the ride.
The Pecan Street Project storyline has three threads that inform the strategic direction of Ecomergence.
- First, technology innovation is driving the development and enhancement of distributed energy resources (DER), which act on the electricity ecosystem and must be integrated into the Smart Grid.
- Second, new energy business models will be needed to address the inevitable changes that will come from incorporating DER innovation into the Smart Grid.
- Third, consumers must be engaged into efforts concurrent with Smart Grid development. Without raised community awareness and mobilization to adapt to change, the promise of Smart Grid will not be realized anytime soon.
Thus, Ecomergence has become a consulting practice that is drawn consistently to the cutting edge of change in energy and environmental policy and practice. And today that cutting edge pivots on the need to bring consumers along with the Smart Grid transformation. The billions of dollars to be spent on Smart Grid will come from energy consumers - we need to listen to them, adapt the system to their needs, and bring them along for the ride.
Contact Us
In The ABCs Of Community Broadband:How Digital Transitions Will Transform America's Communities, One At A Time, author John Cooper reveals insights on the alternative broadband industry, specifically concerning how communities can take advantage of new technologies and new business models to bring about transformative digital transitions.