Founder Profile: Devin Hampton | UtilityAPI
We sat down with Devin Hampton, CEO of UtilityAPI, to learn how he’s transforming the clean energy sector by unlocking access to crucial utility data. With a background in both government and startups, Devin shares how UtilityAPI is empowering companies to accelerate the energy transition and lower costs. His journey, along with his dedication to building a more inclusive climate workforce, offers invaluable insights for climate tech leaders.
This story has been lightly edited for clarity.
Who: Devin Hampton
Location: Washington DC
Company: UtilityAPI
Stage: Series A
One-liner: Unleashing the clean energy revolution by unlocking data
Thesis: Climate | Electrification
About: UtilityAPI collects, standardizes, and shares utility data, so that private sector partners — clean energy companies, real estate-related ventures, electric vehicle charging providers, and beyond — can tap into utility data. Empowered with unparalleled energy data access, these partners can better serve their consumers through lower costs, improved services, and innovation to accelerate the transformation of our buildings, vehicles, and factories to clean energy.
1. Introduce yourself!
I have served as the CEO of UtilityAPI since 2019. Before joining UtilityAPI, I served in the Obama Administration, spending seven years at the Department of Energy (DOE), where I held multiple positions, including senior advisor for emerging markets. I then became chief of staff at the United States Trade and Development Agency, where I led investments in infrastructure, smart cities, and energy projects in emerging markets.
Before my federal service, I worked a wide range of jobs, including a unionized airline baggage handler, a hotel night manager, a bartender, a political field organizer, and an Obama for America advance staffer.
I am also the co-founder of Empowering Diverse Climate Talent (EDICT), a collective that aims to launch 500 climate careers and inspire 10,000 more by 2025. I serve on the board of directors at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute and Clean Energy for America. I’m a proud graduate of the University of Washington.
2. You spent part of your career in government. What are the biggest differences between working in the startup space vs. government? How can startups advance the big goals that our government has to green the planet and mitigate/stop climate change?
There are two key differences: speed and impact and the trade-offs between the two.
Governments play a critical role in shaping markets, but their processes are painfully slow, especially when compared to the rapid pace of startups. When the government sets policy or makes strategic investments, the ripple effects can be transformative for society. It’s often overlooked that many of our most successful companies flourished thanks to targeted government investments, particularly in R&D. Silicon Valley, for example, is a direct outcome of World War II investments. Fracking came from government research. Tesla benefited from an approximately $1 billion loan from DOE’s Loan Program Office. Government is instrumental in investing in areas where markets don’t yet exist and laying the foundation for future innovation.
On the other hand, startups thrive on speed. They not only shape markets but are designed to do so quickly, at relatively low costs, and within short timeframes. I was struck by the contrast when I moved from government into a startup — what took weeks of meetings in government could be conceptualized, built, and shipped to customers in a matter of days in a startup. It felt risky but also the most effective way to drive change. I was hooked.
Startups are the tip of the spear — fast, high-risk, and necessary for rapid deployment. Right now, we face an enormous challenge in deploying climate solutions at an unprecedented scale and speed. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the government has created the market and committed the capital needed for deployment. Now, it’s time for startups to take up the mantle and execute.
3. Why did you join Utility API?
I was drawn to UtilityAPI because we are solving a complex challenge in an industry sector that’s notoriously resistant to change.
Working on utility data is precisely the type of problem people are often warned about when considering startups. But I’ve always been motivated by difficult, seemingly intractable problems with multiple dependencies — just like my time in government. I couldn’t pass up the chance to help drive a solution that, if successful, could unlock the energy transition at the scale needed to truly impact climate change. The potential to make that kind of difference working on seemingly unsolvable problems was the “aha” moment for me.
4. UtilityAPI recently announced its Building Decarbonization In-A-Box initiative, a local government-driven pilot program to accelerate building decarbonization in 8 major US cities. What were key milestones to get this project off the ground? What does success look like, and how can other organizations take inspiration from this program?
The goal of this project is the decarbonization of 120 small business buildings between 10 and 50,000 square feet in our 8 participating cities — we’re not quite there yet, but we have been excited by the participation of the cities, the creation of new building permit data centers to improve targeted marketing.
In the long term, success looks like the scale-up of the Building Decarbonization in a Box initiative at a state or even national scale where different unique data sets (i.e. permitting, utility, etc.) are being utilized to increase the decarbonization rate of the SMB building sector.
I encourage other organizations looking to launch initiatives to go deep on the target sector, question how data can be leveraged to improve the entire customer journey, and be comfortable learning and rethinking the best path forward. Our program went through many iterations before being launched, and the learnings from those iterations have been invaluable for this program and other initiatives that have grown up around it.
5. Tell us more about the mission of EDICT. How should equity fit into conversations about sustainability?
The EDICT program officially launched in the winter of 2020 after Jason Michaels from Leap, and I came together to create the EDICT pledge following the murder of George Floyd.
Together, we recognized that the climate tech sector isn’t exempt from the broader conversation about racial equity just because we focus on the environment. In fact, our sector is uniquely positioned at the intersection of two traditionally exclusionary fields — environmentalism and technology — which makes it even more critical to invest intentionally in diversity. Additionally, the United Nations’ International Labour Organization predicts 24 million green jobs will be created by 2030, but without appropriate training and opportunity, there will remain a large workforce gap and diversity of thought.
This is where EDICT fits in. Since Jason and I adopted the EDICT pledge, the program has been entrusted to Elemental Impact, formerly Elemental Excelerator, along with our partners CELI and FutureMap. Together, these organizations have scaled our idea and created opportunities for hundreds of aspiring climate professionals, college students, and recent graduates from traditionally excluded backgrounds at approximately 100 different organizations nationwide. The program is also entirely led by women of color, a testament to how an intentional focus on inclusion can drive real change.
Equity in sustainability isn’t just a moral imperative — it’s a necessity for success.
6. What’s your biggest piece of advice for other founders/climate leaders?
This is hard, worthwhile work. The scale of the challenge is humbling. Fortunately, it comes with a community of other folks striving to make an impact.
My advice to other founders and climate leaders is simple: embrace that community, show up for others when they need it, and be humble enough to let others show up for you.
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