Connect with us

Technology

E Source Acquires ILLUME Advising to Broaden Energy Consulting and Research Expertise

Published

on

The move represents a substantial stride in the company’s vision to be the utility industry’s solution partner of choice.

BOULDER, Colo., May 6, 2025 /CNW/ — E Source, a utilities-focused consulting, research, and data science company, has acquired ILLUME Advising, LLC, a research and strategy consultancy specializing in the energy sector. The acquisition boosts E Source’s ability to help its utility clients by providing deeper insights, tailored solutions, and richer engagement, building on the company’s deep expertise in North America’s utility sector.

ILLUME is a provider of people-centered research and consulting in the energy sector, founded in 2013 by Anne Dougherty and Sara Conzemius. Over the years, it has expanded to include more than 45 experts with diverse skills in social sciences, data science, engineering, strategic planning, and policy implementation.

E Source has been a solution partner to utilities for over 35 years. In 2019, it was acquired by Align Capital Partners (ACP), a growth-oriented mid-market private equity firm. The company has since grown organically and through acquisitions to create the most comprehensive solution partner in the utility industry.

Commenting on the acquisition, Joe Eazor, CEO, E Source, said, “I am thrilled to welcome the ILLUME team to E Source. This acquisition enhances our talent pool and depth of offerings, allowing us to create a more connected and holistic client experience across services. Anne and Sara have built an incredible company with a portfolio of trusted solutions that, combined with E Source’s scale and capabilities, will enhance the value we offer clients. We are thrilled to have their leadership on our journey to being the solution partner of choice in the utility industry.”

From behavioral economics and human-centered design to applied engineering and building science, ILLUME’s multidisciplinary expertise will further enhance E Source’s deep technical knowledge and trend-tracking capabilities across all utility verticals.

Anne Dougherty, ILLUME founder and co-owner, said, “At ILLUME, we’ve always believed in the power of rigorous research, strategic insight, and deep partnership with clients. E Source is the perfect match to help us scale that vision. Their data science, consulting, and solution-driven capabilities beautifully complement our work. We’re excited for what’s ahead, and confident our clients will see immediate value.”

The companies are now going through a systematic integration process, until the completion of which ILLUME will operate semi-independently as an E Source company. 

“Anne and I are thrilled to be joining forces with E Source—a company we’ve long admired,” said Sara Conzemius, ILLUME founder and co-owner. “Their commitment to innovation, environmental stewardship, and customer-centered solutions deeply aligns with our mission at ILLUME. Together, our teams are positioned to deliver a next-generation set of services to help utilities navigate the energy transition with clarity, purpose, and impact.”

Align Capital Partners was advised by McGuireWoods and ILLUME was advised by the Environmental Financial Consulting Group and Murphy Desmond S.C.

About E Source 
E Source combines industry-leading research, data science, and consulting to help utilities make and implement better data-driven decisions that positively impact their customers, their bottom line, and our planet. Headquartered in Boulder, CO, E Source has teams across the US and Canada. Learn more at www.esource.com.

About ILLUME Advising, LLC 

ILLUME is a research and strategy consultancy specializing in people-centered consulting to advance, re-envision, and transform the power sector. As energy specialists, ILLUME empowers utilities, regulators, and industry leaders to tackle complex challenges and accelerate innovation. ILLUME offers a holistic consulting approach grounded in four areas of expertise: Affordability, Access, and Resilience; Emerging Opportunities; Evaluation and Success Planning; and Human Insights. With headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, and Tucson, Arizona, ILLUME has teams located in 15 states across the US. Learn more at www.illumeadvising.com.

Media contact
Adarsh Nalam, Director, Solutions Marketing and Communications
adarsh_nalam@esource.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/e-source-acquires-illume-advising-to-broaden-energy-consulting-and-research-expertise-302447374.html

SOURCE E Source Companies LLC

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

BlueNexus Technologies Unveils AquaX Hub at SIWW 2026 — AI Autonomous Operations Extended to Legacy Water Assets

Published

on

By

SINGAPORE, June 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2026, BlueNexus Technologies unveiled the global debut of AquaX Hub™ — a compact plug-and-play edge device that brings full AI-powered autonomous operation to standalone water equipment and legacy treatment plants. The launch drew sustained engagement from utilities, industrial operators and engineering firms.

The water sector confronts converging pressures: aging infrastructure, a critical shortage of skilled technicians, and relentless operational cost escalation. AquaX Hub™ answers these directly — extending the AI autonomous operation already proven plant-wide by AquaX Robot™ to a single asset, and delivering comparable monitoring and operational management without a control-system overhaul.

“The industry cannot hire its way out of this problem,” said Jack Zhang, CEO of BlueNexus Technologies. “AI autonomous operation is no longer a future concept — the barrier to entry is gone.”

The AquaX Ecosystem

BlueNexus has built the industry’s first fully integrated AI autonomous water operation platform, spanning three complementary pillars:

AquaX Robot™ is the flagship plant-wide AI agent, built on large language models with proprietary vision, acoustic and infrared multimodal sensing. It optimizes treatment processes 24/7 and predicts equipment failures. Live deployments show up to 90% reduction in on-site staffing, a 50% drop in equipment breakdowns, and approximately 35% lower O&M costs.

AquaX Hub™, making its global debut at SIWW 2026, is a lightweight edge terminal extending that capability to any water system. With an independent local processing module, it monitors and inspects equipment through multimodal sensing and runs a self-contained processing loop. The device integrates seamlessly with existing SCADA, cloud and enterprise platforms via standardized APIs.

i-WaterHub™, the company’s standardized modular treatment plant, operated autonomously by AquaX Robot, delivers 2,500 to 40,000 m³/day for municipal and industrial applications.

Market Momentum

SIWW 2026 convened nearly 500 exhibitors from over 65 countries. BlueNexus has identified priority markets for AquaX Hub™ in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. “The conversations this week have already translated into concrete business opportunities and we expect rapid deployment in the coming months.” Zhang confirmed.

About BlueNexus Technologies

BlueNexus Technologies is a Singapore-based water-technology company building intelligent, AI-operated systems for the world’s most water-intensive industries. We design and deliver modular water treatment infrastructure that is smarter to run, faster to deploy, and built to operate autonomously.

Web: www.bluenexus.tech

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/bluenexus-technologies-unveils-aquax-hub-at-siww-2026–ai-autonomous-operations-extended-to-legacy-water-assets-302805849.html

SOURCE BlueNexus Technologies

Continue Reading

Technology

VIVATECH 2026 CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A RECORD EDITION SURPASSING 200,000 VISITORS

Published

on

By

With the presence of Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

PARIS, June 20, 2026 /CNW/ — From June 17 to 20, 2026 at Paris Porte de Versailles, VivaTech celebrated its 10th edition, surpassing the exceptional milestone of 200,000 visitors from 165 nationalities, with more than 15,000 startups present, 1,155 speakers and over 5 billion cumulative impressions on social media. Europe’s largest tech and innovation event has reached a new dimension, consolidating its status as an unmissable global gathering.

Exceptional speakers

VivaTech welcomed the greatest figures in global tech: Jeff Bezos (Amazon & Blue Origin), Dave Limp (Blue Origin), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Henna Virkkunen (European Commission), Ekaterina Zaharieva (European Commission). Germany, Country of the Year 2026, was represented by a ministerial delegation, while India, AI Country Partner 2026, was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a continuation of the AI Summit in New Delhi.

Innovation and business at the heart of the event

More than 4,500 exhibitors, 61% of whom were international, showcased their latest innovations. Among the standout innovations: the smart contact lens by XPANCEO, the thought-controlled humanoid robot by Unitree x HABS, and the 3D-printed resorbable implants by Lattice Medical. New formats such as the Business Plaza and Investors Office Hours further accelerated business connections.

The VivaTech x Bloomberg Awards

For the first time, VivaTech presented the VivaTech x Bloomberg Awards, recognising the most influential figures in global tech, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Visionary Award), Joe Tsai (Leadership Award) and Yann LeCun (Momentum Award).

Innovation open to all

VivaTech also took over the Champs-Élysées on June 14th for an open-air technology showcase, before opening its doors to the general public on June 20th with astronaut Thomas Pesquet as guest star.

“This 10th edition was not a celebration of the 9 previous years, but the opening of a new decade full of promise.” — Maurice Lévy, Michèle Benbunan & François Bitouzet, VivaTech

See you from June 16 to 19, 2027 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles for VivaTech 2027!

About VivaTech

VivaTech accelerates innovation by connecting startups, tech leaders, major companies, and investors responding to our world’s biggest challenges.  

Each year, over four exciting days in Paris, VivaTech creates Europe’s biggest startup and tech event, exploring the most disruptive topics in tech with world-premiere demos, launches, and conferences in a collaborative ecosystem. This is where business meets innovation. Join us for the eleventh edition of VivaTech 16-19 June 2027.

For more information go to our website at https://vivatech.com/media or follow us on social media @VivaTech.

Contact
press@vivatechnology.com 

Logo: https://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1865564/VT_LOGO_EN.jpg
Photo : https://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1869778/VivaTech_2026.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vivatech-2026-celebrates-its-10th-anniversary-with-a-record-edition-surpassing-200-000-visitors-302805827.html

SOURCE VivaTech

Continue Reading

Technology

Pope Leo XIV embraces paediatric patients at CNAO in Pavia

Published

on

By

PAVIA, Italy, June 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO) served as the first stop today during Pope Leo XIV’s pastoral visit to the city of Pavia. His choice to begin his journey at this center reflects a profound commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue between advanced scientific progress and the alleviation of human suffering.

CNAO President Gianluca Vago and General Manager Sandro Rossi received His Holiness, illustrating the center’s distinctive capabilities. CNAO stands out as a unique reality in Italy, remaining one of the very few facilities worldwide capable of delivering hadrontherapy using both protons and carbon ions. The technological core of the facility is its synchrotron, a subatomic particle accelerator that generates ultra-high-precision beams to treat complex, inoperable and radioresistant tumours. This cutting-edge technology allows for the targeted eradication of diseased cells while meticulously preserving surrounding healthy tissues, drastically improving patients’ survival and quality of life.

Furthermore, CNAO is expanding its capabilities as a premier multi-center utilizing new ion species, like Helium, later Oxygen and Neon. Soon, treatments will incorporate the Leo Cancer Care upright positioning and imaging system. The immediate future also includes beginning therapies with a Hitachi dedicated proton accelerator and gantry and a BNCT system for metastatic diseases, equipped with an electrostatic accelerator produced by TAE Life Science. With these new technologies, CNAO will become one of the most technologically advanced center in the world.

To date, over six thousand individuals, including approximately three hundred children and adolescents, have benefited from these life-saving treatments.

During his visit, the Pope engaged with CNAO’s Board of Directors, a collaborative body uniting national universities, clinical institutions, and research centers. He also extended his heartfelt greetings to the two hundred employees of the center. These doctors, physicists, engineers, and researchers tirelessly operate the advanced technologies in the service of oncology patients.

The emotional pinnacle of the day was the Holy Father’s private gathering with a delegation of young children who underwent treatment. The paediatric patients and their families shared a deeply touching moment of closeness, receiving the Pope’s comforting embrace.

“The visit of Pope Leo XIV honours us and represents a moment of extraordinary human value”, stated CNAO President Gianluca Vago. “In his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the Holy Father emphasizes the necessity of a science that constantly safeguards the centrality of the person and directs technology toward the common good. In a time marked by global tensions, CNAO testifies daily how the incredible power of the atom can be used not to destroy, but to heal. The particle beams we utilize against disease are, symbolically, Rays of Hope, sharing and supporting the IAEA project bearing this name. The embrace the Holy Father reserved for our children reminds us that scientific research finds its most authentic purpose when it encounters listening, compassion, and hope”.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2997869/Papa_al_Cnao_crediti_Andrea_Perotti.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2997643/CNAO_Logo.jpg

 

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pope-leo-xiv-embraces-paediatric-patients-at-cnao-in-pavia-302805799.html

Continue Reading

Trending