Team Q&A: Colin Lamb – Director of Partnerships

Earlier this year, Colin Lamb joined us from Xcel Energy and Utilidata to significantly ramp up our OEM and channel partnerships as we continue to build these critical relationships. Please join me in welcoming Colin, our newest Virtual Peaker team member!

What did you do before joining Virtual Peaker?

Working in the utility industry has allowed me to synthesize my interest in technology with broader energy management, environmental, and climate goals. At Xcel Energy, I partnered with innovative tech companies to develop load management programs that are similar to those we have here at Virtual Peaker. I’ve also led the product and go-to-market strategy for Utilidata, a grid-edge software platform that’s about the same size as Virtual Peaker.

I’m passionate about empowering utilities to build a cleaner, smarter grid, from batteries to solar inverters to electric vehicles (EVs) and more. Since 2017, I’ve been involved as a volunteer with the Climate Reality Project, an organization committed to catalyzing a global solution to the climate crisis. It’s one tangible thing I can do for my family and our planet.

What’s your role at Virtual Peaker?

As the director of partnerships, I work with our device partners—including battery storage, smart thermostats, and water heaters, and EV charging stations—to develop and enhance our business relationships. In addition to working with OEMs, I also manage our channel partners who help us provide the most efficient technology and climate-friendly solutions for our utility clients.

Virtual Peaker is a place where both the products and the people are exceptional. We have a friendly and welcoming culture motivated by a customer-first view of the world, so from my first day here, I was able to jump right in and start making a difference.

What else can you share?

When we were in our 20s, my wife and I lived for a year in South America. Working as volunteers, we traveled through Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. We lived in a tent in Patagonia for three months, witnessing first-hand the tragedy of shrinking glaciers. The experience inspired me to work harder in my career to be a part of the solution to climate change.

I’ve lived in Colorado for the past 20 years—minus a break to get my master’s in public policy and management at the University of Oregon—and love being in the Rocky Mountain foothills at 7,600 feet. My wife and I have three kids, from elementary to high school age. One of our daughters is on a mountain bike team, and as a volunteer coach, I really feel lucky to be able to get out on the trails with her.

About The Author

Bill is a serial entrepreneur with a PhD from UC Berkeley in Controls and Artificial Intelligence and 10 years of experience with high performance residential energy management and connected appliances. He was previously at GE as an Advanced Systems Engineer in the Connected Home Software Group, but left that role in May 2014 to pursue entrepreneurship full time.

Bill grew up in Louisville and returned with his family in 2010 after a long stint in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves Louisville and is working to make it a better and more attractive city for high tech startups.

More About Bill