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16 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 20, 2026 Budderfly founder and CEO Al Subbloie (right) hopes customers will embrace the "Budderfly Energy Lake," an energy storage system installed at their facilities. Contributed Photo Capital Push Energy firm Budderfly tops $1B in funding, launches battery storage rollout wall batteries, the company said. At its peak, the "energy lake" can offer 30 kilowatts of power for five hours. Battery storage allows businesses to keep unused energy and use it during peak demand periods, when electricity is more expensive, helping lower costs and improve reliability. With the new offering, Budderfly is entering a fast-growing segment of the energy sector. The global battery energy storage market was valued at $32.62 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $161.12 billion by 2034, driven by rising electricity demand, grid constraints and the need to store excess power from solar and wind, according to Fortune Business Insights. The industry includes both manu- facturers and companies that install and manage storage systems. Tesla, for example, is a leading manu- facturer, while Connecticut-based Cadenza Innovation is developing its own battery technology. Firms like Ellington-based Earthlight Technol- ogies focus on installing and inte- grating systems — an approach more in line with Budderfly's model. Subbloie said Budderfly is rolling out its battery installations in three phases. The first, already underway, will install batteries in 11 locations — OEM's Shelton site, three commercial sites in Massachusetts and seven locations in California. Phase two will increase installa- tions to 100 sites, while phase three calls for batteries to serve about 30% of Budderfly's commercial portfolio of roughly 9,000 locations. The business model As part of Budderfly's energy-as-a- service business model, the company assumes responsibility for clients' utility spending and funds efficiency upgrades that reduce energy use By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com I f you ask Al Subbloie, founder and CEO of Shelton-based energy-as-a-service company Budderfly, the most effective way for businesses to cut utility costs is by avoiding energy use altogether. He calls it "spontaneous gener- ation" — producing a kilowatt of energy by simply not consuming it. That concept underpins Budderfly's business model. The company works with customers ranging from restau- rants to manufacturers and universi- ties to reduce energy consumption, generally lowering utility bills by as much as 30%, Subbloie said. "The world is struggling … to get energy to build data centers," Subbloie said. "And we're sitting here with the safest, easiest kilowatt you could ever have — the kilowatt you don't need to use." The company is now expanding beyond efficiency into energy storage, offering battery systems that allow customers to store unused power for later use. Budderfly is rolling out the storage option this quarter at 11 locations, including at Shelton manufacturer OEM Controls Inc. The expanded offering comes as Budderfly has recently secured additional financing and grown its intellectual property portfolio. On March 25, the company announced it expanded its debt facility to $550 million, including a $250 million increase led by Global Infrastructure Partners, part of investment giant BlackRock, with participation from existing lender Vantage Infrastructure. Budderfly said the latest financing, which will help fund energy efficiency upgrades at customer sites and support overall growth, brings its total capital raised to more than $1 billion. Meanwhile, earlier in March, Budderfly said it had 34 granted patents and 36 pending applications related to HVAC controls, distributed energy coordination and behind- the-meter microgrid management technology. In 2025 alone, it filed 21 new applications and was granted four patents, the highest annual total in its history. Subbloie, who founded Budderfly in 2017, said the company generated more than $250 million in revenue last year, helping it land on the Financial Times list of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies of 2026, where it ranked second among U.S. energy firms. "We've grown a lot," he said during a recent interview with Hartford Business Journal. 'Energy Lake' Subbloie hopes customers will embrace his company's latest offering, which it calls the "Budderfly Energy Lake." The lake is actually a battery energy storage system made by Buffalo-based Viridi and installed by Budderfly at customer facilities. "Rather than give the saved kilo- watt back to the utility, we put it into the lake," Subbloie said. Each of the medium-size batteries offers 150 kilowatt-hours of storage, roughly equivalent to 11 Tesla Power- AT A GLANCE Budderfly Industry: Energy Efficiency Founded: 2017 Top Executive: Al Subbloie, Founder & CEO HQ: 2 Trap Falls Road, Shelton Capital base: About $1 billion Employees: 450 to 500 Contact: service@budderfly.com