Many businesses think about electricity only when the monthly bill arrives. The lights work, the heating and cooling systems run, equipment stays powered, and energy becomes one of those background costs that feels unavoidable. But inside many commercial buildings, a quieter problem is happening every day. Power is being used inefficiently, systems are drawing more energy than they need, and building owners often do not have a clear way to see how much money and capacity are being lost.
That is the problem SaLisa L. Berrien set out to solve through COI Energy. Her work is built around a simple but powerful idea. If wasted building power can be detected, measured, and managed, it does not have to remain waste. It can become savings for businesses, support for utilities, and value for the electric grid.
Through COI Energy, Berrien is helping reframe energy efficiency as more than a cost-cutting measure. She is showing that commercial buildings can become active energy assets. Instead of only consuming power, they can help reduce grid pressure, lower emissions, and create new financial value from electricity that would otherwise be overlooked.
Who is SaLisa L. Berrien
SaLisa L. Berrien is the founder and CEO of COI Energy, a digital energy management company focused on eliminating energy waste in buildings. Her story stands out because she did not arrive in the energy industry from the outside. She spent more than two decades working across electric power, smart grid, clean tech, big data analytics, and software-based energy solutions before launching her own company.
That experience matters. Berrien has seen the energy system from several sides, including utilities, deregulated energy services, demand response, smart grid innovation, and customer-facing technology. She understands the pressure utilities face when demand rises. She understands why businesses struggle to control energy costs. She also understands how difficult it can be for organizations to act on sustainability goals when the data is unclear or disconnected from day-to-day operations.
Her background includes work connected to major areas of the power sector, from traditional utilities to clean technology and SaaS platforms. That mix helped shape the idea behind COI Energy. Berrien saw that many buildings already had hidden flexibility inside them. The missing piece was a smarter way to find that flexibility and turn it into something useful.
Why wasted building power became the problem worth solving
Energy waste is easy to ignore because it is often invisible. A commercial building may use more electricity than necessary because systems are running at the wrong times, equipment is not optimized, or peak demand is poorly managed. In many cases, the business owner sees only the final cost, not the specific moments where waste is happening.
For building owners and operators, that lack of visibility creates several problems. It raises operating costs. It makes sustainability reporting harder. It increases a building’s carbon footprint. It also adds unnecessary stress to the electric grid, especially during peak demand periods when utilities need every available resource to keep the system stable.
This is where Berrien’s approach becomes practical. Instead of treating energy waste as a vague environmental issue, COI Energy treats it as a measurable business problem. If a building is wasting power, that waste can be detected. If it can be detected, it can be reduced. And if it can be reduced or shifted at the right time, it can become valuable to both the customer and the grid.
That is the success story behind Berrien’s work. She took a problem many companies accepted as normal and built a platform around making it visible, actionable, and financially meaningful.
How COI Energy works as a digital energy management platform
COI Energy is designed to help businesses understand how their buildings use power and where waste is hiding. At its core, the company provides a digital energy management platform that helps detect, eliminate, and monetize energy waste.
The platform uses building energy data to show customers what is happening in their facilities. Instead of relying only on monthly bills or delayed reports, businesses can get clearer insight into energy use, demand patterns, and areas where they may be losing money. That kind of visibility is especially important for commercial buildings, where energy use can vary by time of day, occupancy, weather, equipment schedules, and operational needs.
For many organizations, the value is not just in collecting data. The value is in turning that data into decisions. COI Energy helps customers see where they can reduce waste, improve efficiency, and better manage their energy behavior. It also supports sustainability efforts by helping companies connect energy savings with carbon reduction and cleaner operations.
This makes the platform useful for a wide range of customers, including office buildings, campuses, industrial sites, food service companies, retail facilities, and other commercial properties. Any organization with meaningful energy use can benefit from better visibility into when, where, and why power is being wasted.
Turning wasted power into grid value
The most interesting part of COI Energy’s model is that it goes beyond traditional energy efficiency. The company is not only helping buildings use less power. It is helping them become more flexible participants in the energy system.
That matters because the electric grid is changing. As demand grows and more renewable energy enters the system, utilities need more ways to balance supply and demand. Buildings can help, but only if their energy flexibility is visible and manageable.
For example, a building may be able to reduce or shift electricity use during peak periods without affecting comfort or operations. A facility may have unused capacity that can be managed more intelligently. A group of commercial buildings may be able to support demand response programs or help reduce pressure on the grid during stressful moments.
In the past, much of that potential was difficult to access. Businesses did not always know what flexibility they had, and utilities did not always have a simple way to connect with that customer-side capacity. COI Energy helps bridge that gap by turning building energy data into a clearer picture of what can be saved, shifted, or monetized.
This is why Berrien’s work is important. She is not only building software for energy savings. She is helping create a model where commercial buildings can become grid-supporting assets. That shift can benefit customers, utilities, communities, and the environment at the same time.
The role of AI and real-time data in COI Energy’s growth
Modern energy management depends on more than basic reporting. Buildings generate large amounts of information, but the challenge is knowing what to do with it. That is where artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, and real-time monitoring can make a difference.
COI Energy uses data-driven insights to help customers understand energy behavior and spot opportunities that may not be obvious from a standard utility bill. The platform can help identify usage patterns, inefficient operations, and moments when a building may be able to reduce demand. With better data, businesses can make more informed decisions without needing a large in-house energy team.
This technology-driven approach is important because energy waste is not always a one-time problem. It can happen repeatedly across different systems, different sites, and different operating conditions. A building might perform well one month and waste energy the next because of weather changes, equipment issues, scheduling mistakes, or shifting business needs.
Real-time insights give companies a better chance to respond before waste becomes a larger cost. Predictive tools can also help organizations plan ahead instead of reacting after the bill arrives. For businesses trying to lower expenses and meet sustainability goals, that kind of energy intelligence can be a major advantage.
Why SaLisa L. Berrien connects energy efficiency with energy equity
One reason SaLisa L. Berrien’s story feels different from many climate tech founder stories is the way she connects business value with social impact. Her work through COI Energy is not only about helping companies save money. It is also about reducing waste in a way that can support cleaner energy access, stronger communities, and a more balanced grid.
Energy waste and energy burden can exist at the same time. Some buildings waste large amounts of electricity, while many households and communities struggle with high energy costs or limited access to clean energy benefits. Berrien’s mission recognizes that these issues are connected. When commercial energy waste is reduced and repurposed, it can create value beyond a single building owner.
This is where the idea behind COI Energy becomes broader than software. The company is built around the belief that wasted energy can be redirected toward better outcomes. That can include lowering carbon emissions, supporting grid reliability, and helping make energy resources more useful to communities that often face the highest energy burdens.
Berrien’s leadership reflects that wider purpose. She has spoken about responsibility, paying it forward, and using business as a tool for practical impact. Her approach shows that clean technology does not have to choose between profit and purpose. In the right model, the two can support each other.
How COI Energy helps businesses see energy as a financial asset
For businesses, the financial case is one of the strongest parts of the COI Energy story. Energy waste is not only an environmental problem. It is money leaving the business without creating value.
A company that reduces waste can lower operating costs. A company that understands its energy flexibility may also find ways to create value through demand management, utility programs, or grid services. That changes how leaders think about energy. Instead of viewing electricity as a fixed expense, they can start seeing it as a managed asset.
This is especially useful for organizations with multiple locations or large facilities. Without strong data, it can be difficult to know which buildings are performing well and which ones need attention. A digital energy management platform can help teams compare performance, spot unusual usage, and prioritize improvements.
For sustainability teams, the platform can also support carbon reduction goals. Companies increasingly need to show measurable progress on emissions, energy efficiency, and environmental performance. Better energy data makes those goals easier to track and communicate.
For facility managers, the benefit is more practical. They need tools that help them keep buildings running smoothly while controlling costs. If a platform can reveal waste, improve scheduling, and support smarter energy decisions, it becomes part of daily operations rather than a distant sustainability project.
Why utilities can benefit from COI Energy’s model
Utilities face a different but related challenge. They need to keep the grid reliable while managing demand growth, weather-related stress, renewable energy integration, and customer expectations. Customer-side flexibility can help, but utilities need better ways to understand and access that flexibility.
Commercial buildings can play an important role here. They often have meaningful energy loads, and many can reduce or shift usage during key periods. The problem is that this flexibility is not always visible or easy to coordinate.
COI Energy helps create a connection between businesses and utilities by making building energy performance easier to understand. If a business can identify unused or flexible capacity, that information can become useful for grid planning and demand-side management. Utilities can benefit from lower peak demand, better customer engagement, and more flexible resources on the customer side of the meter.
This kind of model becomes more important as the grid becomes more complex. Instead of relying only on large power plants or new infrastructure, utilities can also tap into smarter buildings, demand response, and behind-the-meter energy assets. That is a practical path toward a more resilient energy system.
The leadership lesson behind Berrien’s success
The success of SaLisa L. Berrien is not just about identifying a technical problem. It is about seeing a business opportunity inside a problem most people ignored.
Energy waste is not a glamorous topic on the surface. It happens behind walls, inside meters, and across complicated building systems. Many people do not think about it until costs rise or equipment fails. Berrien saw something different. She saw waste as a signal. She saw unused power as capacity. She saw commercial buildings as a missing part of the grid flexibility conversation.
That founder mindset is one of the reasons her work stands out. She built COI Energy around a problem she understood deeply from years in the industry. She did not chase a trend. She used her experience in utilities, smart grid, clean technology, and demand response to build a company with a clear purpose.
Her leadership also shows the value of making complex ideas easier to understand. Energy markets, grid management, and demand response can be hard topics for business leaders who are not energy experts. Berrien’s work helps translate those ideas into something more direct. Find waste. Reduce it. Turn it into savings. Use it to support the grid. Create broader impact.
That simple framing is powerful because it makes clean energy action feel practical rather than abstract.
What makes COI Energy different in climate tech
The climate tech space includes many companies working on renewable energy, batteries, carbon accounting, building automation, and electric infrastructure. COI Energy stands out because it focuses on energy that is already being wasted.
That focus matters. Many clean energy solutions require major new investments, large equipment upgrades, or long implementation timelines. COI’s model begins with a resource businesses already have: their existing energy use. By finding waste and flexibility inside current operations, the company can help customers act faster and make better use of what is already there.
Another difference is the way COI Energy connects multiple forms of value. The platform is not only about lower bills. It also touches sustainability, carbon reduction, grid reliability, customer-side flexibility, energy equity, and operational intelligence. That gives the company a broader role than a standard efficiency tool.
For customers, this means the platform can support both financial and environmental goals. For utilities, it can help reveal flexible capacity. For communities, it can support a cleaner and more responsible energy system. For Berrien, it reflects a belief that energy waste should not be accepted as normal when it can be converted into something useful.
The bigger impact of turning buildings into flexible energy resources
Commercial buildings are often discussed as energy consumers, but Berrien’s work points to a different future. Buildings can become active parts of the grid. They can reduce demand when needed, support cleaner energy use, and help businesses participate in the energy transition without losing focus on their core operations.
This shift is important because the clean energy transition cannot depend only on new supply. Solar, wind, storage, and grid infrastructure all matter, but demand-side solutions matter too. The cleanest and cheapest unit of energy is often the one that does not need to be produced in the first place. When businesses reduce waste, everyone benefits.
SaLisa L. Berrien is building COI Energy around that practical insight. Her company helps make wasted power visible, gives businesses a way to act on it, and connects those actions to larger grid value. It is a business story, a technology story, and a climate impact story at the same time.
Her success shows that innovation does not always start with creating something entirely new. Sometimes it starts with seeing value where others see waste. Through COI Energy, Berrien is proving that commercial buildings can do more than consume electricity. They can help shape a smarter, cleaner, and more flexible energy future.
