Acorn Energy, Inc. (PNK:ACFN) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jan Loeb: Yes. So 600 kilowatts is relatively small. And I mentioned when I said 800 megawatts was that we currently monitor, if you look at just what we currently monitor today, it’s approximately 800 megawatts of power is what we monitor today. So I was just giving that as an example.

Unidentified Analyst: A reference.

Jan Loeb: Yes. So yes, this is in the really early stages, and we expect it to grow significantly over time.

Unidentified Analyst: And then just one on…

Jan Loeb: But it’s important because this is our first. So we’ve talked about it for a while. It took a while to actually formalize, test it, make sure everything is good, and we’re there.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. That’s great. Congratulations. And on the ERCOT side, when they go through approvals, do they approve one by one or is it kind of all 92 at once?

Jan Loeb: No, it’s one by one.

Unidentified Analyst: You have to put it individually, okay. I think that’s public information, right? Is that accurate or relatively public? And – go ahead.

Jan Loeb: No, I don’t know the answer to that.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. And then – so with, I guess, ERCOT in Texas, I mean, I know there’s – it’s not just ERCOT, right? You’re not just working with ERCOT, right? It’s other states as well?

Jan Loeb: There are other states, and there are other grid operators in Texas as well. But these ’92 are in ERCOT’s region.

Unidentified Analyst: Right. And is it safe to say that any potential future revenues, the majority would come kind of the summertime? Or is it could be any time of the year?

Jan Loeb: No. It’s – the way I’m just using ERCOT as an example, because they’re a good example. A year is broken down into four segments. There’s a winter program, which is four months and has high usage. There’s a summer program, which is four months and has high usage. And then there’s a two month spring and a two month fall program, which are low usages.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. So it’s a – when you had mentioned this 15,000 to 17,000 a year, one megawatt of power, that’s kind of blended average, right, with the bulk in the summer and winter.

Jan Loeb: Correct, over a year.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay. And then just one more – last question unrelated to Demand Response, just on this $150,000 of hardware sold. Is this something you just do from time to time? I think it’s happened before, I recall, right? Just one customer, a couple of customers just want the hardware. Is that accurate? Or should we expect more of that kind of stuff in the future? Or is this kind of a onetime?

Jan Loeb: No, there some difference – Tracy, go ahead.

Tracy Clifford: This is new functionality that we have launched in all future products sold. So what you were referring to the one-off sales were the custom units that were customized for one specific customer that they monitor internally themselves because they have that capability. This is new functionality that we’ve launched in our all existing products moving forward to offer various options to give us a little bit more competitive edge also so that we can offer some variability to our customers. So you will – this is not a one point in time. This will be the accounting treatment moving forward based on the new functionality.

Unidentified Analyst: And was it just a lot of customer feedback on this? Do they want this and asked for – what made this decision versus just doing the one-off customer? Is it something – this something you’re going to do going forward for all hardware, right? So anyone can essentially unhook the monitor. Is that correct?