Some of the world’s most innovative technology companies, from Apple to Facebook to Google, are famous for “acquihires,” or buyouts of far smaller firms that are overflowing with specialists who have skills in important emerging business areas. Apparently, the same is also true when it comes to finding experts in clean energy procurement.

The latest evidence? In mid-January, energy management and sustainable building infrastructure company Schneider Electric snapped up one of the better-known advisory firms in this space, Renewable Choice Energy of Boulder, Colorado, for an undisclosed sum of money. In fact, the latter’s 35-person team is already making joint sales calls with its new colleagues from Schneider Electric.
The deal, considered alongside Edison Energy’s acquisition of Altenex last year, offers another signal of just how important clean energy is becoming to corporate energy strategies.

If anything, we have to work to become more creative.

“Developers don’t have the time and resources to figure out how to get the output of their assets to the market, and you have end users who are eager to get their hands on this capacity,” said Steve Wilhite, senior vice president of energy and sustainability services for Schneider Electric. “We are linking the two sides to make this more accessible.”

Read more (Green Biz)