Smarter Batteries for a Smarter Grid (with Cole Ashman of Pila Energy)

This is CC Pod - the Climate Capital Podcast. You are receiving this because you have subscribed to our Substack. If you’d like to manage your Climate Capital Substack subscription, click here.Disclaimer: For full disclosure, Pila Energy is a portfolio company at Climate Capital. Our guest host, Noah Margo-Dermer, General Manager of Climate Capital’s Climate Angels program. CC Pod is not investment advice and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any investment decision. But first: Network Fund & Climate Angels→Invest in the Network Fund. Large fund access with micro-fund minimums.→Join Climate Angels. Sessions w/ top investors, discounted carry, community & more.Don’t miss an episode from Climate Capital!Power outages are becoming more frequent, electricity costs continue to rise, and the modern grid is under growing pressure from electrification, AI-driven demand, and increasingly severe weather. Yet the technologies designed to provide energy resilience remain largely inaccessible to the millions of people who rent, live in multifamily housing, or cannot justify costly home retrofits. In this week’s episode of CC Pod, Noah Margo-Dermer speaks with Cole Ashman, Founder and CEO of Pila Energy, about building a new category of home energy infrastructure that makes backup power, energy savings, and intelligent energy management available to far more people than traditional residential battery systems.Pila has developed a network of intelligent plug-in home batteries that install without electricians or major renovations. Rather than replacing a home’s electrical system, each battery simply plugs into a standard outlet, powering critical appliances while continuously optimizing energy use. The system forms a connected mesh across the home, enabling batteries to communicate, monitor energy consumption, automate savings during peak electricity pricing, and provide backup power during outages. Designed with over-the-air software updates, the platform is also built to support emerging capabilities such as plug-in solar integration and bidirectional power as electrical codes continue to evolve.The timing reflects several powerful shifts reshaping the energy landscape. Utilities are facing unprecedented load growth from electric vehicles, building electrification, and rapidly expanding AI infrastructure, while aging grids struggle to keep pace with more frequent extreme weather events. At the same time, time-of-use electricity pricing, virtual power plants, and distributed energy programs are creating new economic incentives for homeowners and renters alike to store and intelligently manage electricity. As regulators increasingly embrace plug-in distributed energy technologies, software-defined batteries have the potential to become a much broader part of the residential energy ecosystem.Pila’s ambition extends well beyond selling backup batteries. The company views its hardware as the foundation for an operating system for energy across homes and buildings, creating a software platform that connects appliances, distributed energy resources, utilities, insurers, and future grid services. Rather than relying on subscription fees, Pila aims to generate value through optional energy programs, virtual power plant participation, data-driven services, and strategic partnerships across the broader built environment. Starting with direct-to-consumer sales, the company is expanding through utility, solar, insurance, and commercial channels as distributed energy becomes increasingly mainstream.The long-term vision is a future where every building can intelligently manage its own energy without requiring expensive infrastructure upgrades. By lowering the barriers to adopting residential batteries and transforming ordinary wall outlets into connected energy assets, Pila is working toward a more resilient, flexible, and decentralized electricity system, one where energy independence becomes a practical reality for renters, homeowners, and businesses alike.To learn more about Pila Energy, visit https://pilaenergy.com/. Get full access to Climate Capital at climatecap.substack.com/subscribe