Fermata Energy, the leading Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) services provider, today announced it has named Claire Broido Johnson as Chief Operating Officer (COO). With the company’s rapid growth, Johnson will scale operations to meet the increasing market demand for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) services.
Charlottesville, VA-based Fermata Energy developed the industry’s first commercially available V2X platform in the U.S. The Fermata Energy V2X platform includes bidirectional chargers that both charge and discharge electric vehicles (EVs) and software that notifies EV fleet owners about opportunities to either send the power stored in the EV’s battery to a building to reduce energy costs (V2B) or to the grid to earn revenue (V2G). V2X bidirectional charging systems enable fleet owners to reduce the cost of owning and maintaining their EVs.
“Utilities, regulators, and fleet managers are realizing that EVs have additional value beyond mobility. EVs are mobile energy storage assets. Demand is growing for V2X systems with smart bidirectional charging programs that make it easy to both charge and discharge a vehicle and to support grid reliability. This is a transformational moment – and Claire brings essential experience in scaling organizations that have changed the clean energy economy for the better,” said David Slutzky, founder, and CEO of Fermata Energy.
“I’ve joined Fermata Energy because I believe it is at the forefront of an exciting step change in the future of energy and energy storage in the U.S. The V2X market is at a critical stage of growth. I am pleased to join the remarkable team here and as they continue to lead the industry in this transformational moment, similar to how SunEdison spurred growth in the solar industry,” said Claire Broido Johnson, who co-founded SunEdison in 2003.
Johnson will bring additional Fermata Energy products to market, working closely with the company’s hardware, software engineering, and data science teams. As COO, she will work closely with David Slutzky, founder and CEO, and John Wheeler, co-founder and CFO, to scale the company.
“As power grids around the world are being tested with record temperatures and global events continue to place pressure on traditional fuel supplies, EV fleet owners can leverage their EVs to cut peak load, and support grid reliability and decarbonization,” Johnson said.
Johnson was a co-founder of solar energy services provider SunEdison, which developed the groundbreaking power purchase agreement for the solar industry. Most recently, Johnson served as the managing director of the $10 million Maryland Momentum Fund, which invests in Maryland early-stage companies. In 2009, she joined the Department of Energy, where she oversaw the deployment of $11 billion in Recovery Act funds to scale renewable energy and energy efficiency programs throughout the United States. She is currently on the board of the National Sierra Club Foundation, Living Classrooms, Ally Energy, and Upsurge Baltimore.
Fermata Energy’s bidirectional FE-15 charger is the first to be certified to a new North American safety standard, UL 9741, the Standard for Bidirectional Electric Vehicle Charging System Equipment. Founded by Slutzky in 2010, the company is deploying its V2X systems throughout North America at utility and fleet locations and is the only V2X company that has a track record of earning thousands of dollars per year for its customers. In 2021, Fermata Energy raised $40 million in investments to accelerate the company’s growth, including a Series A round led by The Carlyle Group.
