Fred Butler, a former president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and commissioner of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, join its advisory board. On September 1, 2010, the World Economic Forum announced the company as a Technology Pioneer for 2011. In November 2010, the company announced its third round of venture capital funding, a $50 million investment led by Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, to accelerate its expansion. In 2012, Opower launched a popular data blog—called the Outlier—which presented statistical analysis of the company's energy data storehouse, spanning more than 50 million households worldwide. Several analyses attracted mainstream news coverage, including the impact of the Super Bowl on America's energy use, the electricity usage patterns of electric car owners, and variation in the compass orientation of rooftop solar panels. In 2013, Opower added former utility CEOs John Rowe and Dick Kelly, and former White House Director, Carol Browner, to its advisory board. Tom Brady, former chairman of BGE, was named chairman of the advisory board. Opower held its initial public offering on April 4, 2014. On May 2, 2016, Opower announced that it was being acquired by Oracle for $532 million. Science and technology Opower's software uses statistical algorithms to perform pattern recognition analysis from data in order to derive information for utility customers. Without any devices installed in the home, the platform can perform usage-disaggregation analysis, presenting end users information such as heating or cooling usage apart from overall usage, and thus allowing them to spot additional opportunities to save money. Since the launch of the Opower platform and service, the average customer using Opower has cut energy usage by 2% to 5%, reducing 13 billion lbs of emissions. Awards and honors In May 2013, Opower was named to the Inaugural CNBC Disruptors 50 List. In November 2013, Opower was named the #1 fastest-growing tech company in the DC region, and #20 in the US, by Deloitte. See also Energy management software Smart grid Clean technology References External links Video: Alex Laskey: How behavioral science can lower your energy bill (2013) from TED on YouTube Video: Energy saving: Deena Rosen at TEDxUtrecht (2014) from YouTube, former head of design at Opower Podcast: Dan Yates, Co-Founder & former CEO of Opower (2019) on Apple Podcasts Article: Opower CEO Dan Yates, on Saving Power for the People (2014) from The Mercury News Companies