Currents Ep365: Energy as a Service in a Constrained Grid
Sep 17, 2026
Mariko Meier, CEO of Unison Energy, develops on-site microgrids for commercial, industrial, and data center customers. She explores energy-as-a-service financing, balancing reliability, costs, and carbon goals, and why constrained grids are accelerating distributed power. The conversation also covers data centers, AI-driven demand, regulatory uncertainty, and flexible microgrids built for the future.
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Microgrids Deliver More Than Backup Power
- Unison’s microgrids differ from conventional renewables by supplying distributed, behind-the-meter, dispatchable power rather than intermittent generation.
- At General Mills in Missouri, combined heat and power also provides the steam and hot water needed for production.
CHP Can Cut Emissions Through Efficiency
- Customers balance resilience, carbon reduction, and cost certainty rather than pursuing a single objective.
- Replacing inefficient boilers with CHP waste heat helped General Mills reduce Scope 1 emissions by about 60%.
Energy As A Service Creates Cost Certainty
- Energy as a service removes the upfront capital burden by having Unison build, own, and operate the plant.
- Customers pay a predictable fee under a 20-year contract, generally increasing with CPI instead of unpredictable utility rates.