by Jean-Pierre Damon
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The summer heat collected inside a fire place in Reno, the nation’s fastest-warming area, where Nevada’s governor and essential local government officials had gathered in July 2021. They were present to celebrate what they termed a “groundbreaking ” initiative to combat climate change through a “landmark partnership ” with a obscurity green tech company.
“We get to be the town, the state and the position that lead the way into a new time and a new century, ” Bob Lucey, then-Washoe County Commission chairman, told the little group of writers, activists and government authorities.
That is how we combat climate change and safeguard our position, declared the then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, who’d set a goal of roughly halving the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The organizations they controlled each received contracts from the companies Ledger8760 and NZero, with the promise that it would provide real-time monitoring of carbon emissions from dozens of buildings, thousands of vehicles, and thousands of people ‘ travel. For information may help hour-by-hour decision making to reduce their carbon footprints and move toward their climate targets, according to NZero’s ball.
Without a professor or culture expert among its founders or senior employees, the company made a strong claim.
But what NZero’s executive team did have — and what gave it an edge in convincing a state, county and city to imagine taxpayer dollars on the company — was a record of helping prominent people get what they want. They had helped Uber defeat the intractable taxi lobby and gain entry into the Nevada market as lobbyists, who were well-known in political circles for their humorous personalities and straightforward dealing. Tesla win what was at the time the largest tax incentive package in state history; and the Las Vegas Raiders of the NFL receive$ 750 million in public funding for stadium construction. They’ve represented clients before the Reno City Council and Washoe County Commission and lobbied the Legislature on behalf of the city.
Josh Griffin, the co-founder of NZero, has now made the decision to use those abilities to expand his own company.
Beginning in late 2020, Griffin leaned on relationships with government officials to pitch them his new company, according to emails obtained by ProPublica. He won contracts worth$ 5 over the course of three years. 7 million — funds that critics say would have been better used to make actual efficiency upgrades or invest in green power generation. In fact, Griffin persuaded government officials to pay their salaries, including the two governors of opposing political parties, despite NZero’s efforts to fulfill its pledge to provide real-time emissions data to inform business decisions.
Washoe County went months without receiving data tracking electricity usage. Real-time data was never delivered by a pilot project for the state of Nevada, and a larger project with the state experienced repeated delays. Only the city of Reno realized a working platform with uninterrupted and usable data.
Their software did n’t follow their instructions, according to former Governor’s Office of Energy program manager Robin Yochum, who had first raised concerns about the contract. The statistics that NZero provided to the state during the pilot project were months old because of issues getting data in regular intervals from utilities, she said. The state already had a lot more information than the historical data, which required manual input.
“They figured out how to get money from the government and put it into their company, and what did we get for it? Nothing, according to Yochum.
They figured out how to get money from the government and put it into their company, and what did we get for it? Nothing.
—Robin Yochum, a former programs manager at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy
ProPublica obtained records showing that the local and state governments made the decision to hire NZero without thoroughly screening the business against its rivals. A Reno spokesperson said the city tried to find similar companies but could n’t. Officials in Washoe County said they believed they were “investing in an innovative approach.” ” The state considered no other companies before hiring NZero for the pilot project.
She continued to have doubts about NZero’s promises despite seeing a previous state attempt to implement a similar platform fail. She also did n’t think its technology would be the best way to meet the state’s ambitious climate objectives.
Bottom line: To be able to implement retrofits and efficiency measures to make buildings compatible with climate goals, the state needs money, she said. “You should put your money into upgrading them first. ”
NZero’s head of marketing, Kevin Nabipour, said in a written statement that ProPublica’s reporting “portrays a customer experience that is a stark contrast from the one we know and experience routinely with a satisfied group of engaged public sector professionals. ”
In an interview with ProPublica, Griffin acknowledged NZero did n’t deliver what it initially promised. The governments received delayed data instead of real-time data. But it still benefited his customers, he argued.
Even though it was inconsistent with our promises to provide information and when they received it, Griffin said,” I know we delivered real value.” It does n’t mean at all it was n’t valuable. ”
Governments should invest in understanding their emission patterns before putting money toward improvements, he argued. Although his company provided outdated data, he claimed, it could still be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the efficiency projects being considered. “How do you know which one reduces the emissions the most? We are guiding those choices, he said.
As of July, three years after contracting with NZero, the state of Nevada has not used the data to make efficiency upgrades, while Reno relied on the data to help implement a lighting project and Washoe County used the data to help prioritize its capital improvement projects.
How to Monitor Carbon Emissions?
ProPublica this year is investigating the effectiveness of government and industry efforts to combat the climate crisis and reduce their environmental impact.
A crucial principle of international treaties aims to stop catastrophic climate change by reducing global carbon output. Such tracking is generally done at the city, state or national level through estimates of how much carbon is emitted in a geographical area over a year.
Publicly traded companies started looking for ways to gauge their emissions on a corporate level to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers and shareholders and increase their emissions expectations. This drove a surge in startup companies offering similar platforms.
New methods for estimating emissions were being developed, including smart meters, sensors, and complex models. And although several internationally respected climate agencies had developed standards, there was n’t an agreed-upon best method.
Danny Cullenward, a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said,” It’s all unregulated.” “There are various private industry standards, but they’re voluntary. ”
Griffin and his lobbying partner Matt Griffin, who is not related to Josh, started NZero in 2017 with their friend Josh Weber, a lawyer specializing in electric utility regulations. They argued that large-scale energy consumers, particularly those who lobbied for casinos and data centers, should have better information about electricity consumption, according to Josh Griffin. They should know whether the electrons powering their slot machines, for example, had been generated by a solar or a coal-fired plant. ( Around this point, Josh Griffin and Weber attempted to end Nevada’s electric utility’s monopoly and give consumers a choice of where to purchase electricity. Griffin said the ballot initiative and the founding of NZero were unrelated. )
Utilities had data on exactly where consumers ’ electricity was coming from but did n’t readily share it, Griffin said. Consumers were not aware of how much carbon was produced to power their devices. Griffin said they developed their platform to provide that.
Nevada governments have been running regular greenhouse gas inventories for their jurisdictions for more than ten years, estimating annual emissions from all sources within their geographic areas. NZero offered something different: tracking emissions generated from actual government operations — how much carbon was emitted when, for example, the city ’s street lights were on or when the heater ran at city hall.
Because elected officials had pledged to reduce carbon emissions, Griffin claimed that his platform was ideal for governments. The Sisolak administration, for example, set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 45 % by 2030 and 100 % by 2050. According to Griffin, officials could “lead by example,” demonstrating to private industry that accurate data was possible for accountability.
To calculate these emissions, however, NZero needed access to data on energy consumption from each government building, including natural gas, electricity and water. However, depending on the service provider, the type of meters in place, and whether or not the utility was willing to share the data, it was hit or miss for each address.
“There’s nothing you can do if they don’t want to give you the data, ” said Connor Taylor, a senior analyst with Verdantix, which sells buyer’s guides on carbon tracking software. It is not as though everyone is legally required to do it. So it really hinges on the strength of that relationship. ”
There’s nothing you can do if they don’t want to give you the data. ”
—Connor Taylor, a senior analyst with Verdantix
Southwest Gas, the state’s largest natural gas supplier, and NV Energy, the state’s main electricity provider, both discovered that NV Energy, who did n’t want to share customer information with NZero, did n’t have access to real-time data.
What Went Wrong
Because the city obtained the data from NV Energy itself and gave it to NZero for analysis, Reno avoided significant issues with NZero’s platform. The city said it did n’t have examples of efficiency projects undertaken because of the data but has used the information to measure how effective some of its projects have been. It is crucial to our sustainability objectives, according to a spokesperson. ”
NZero’s early access to NV Energy’s data on Washoe County’s electricity and natural gas usage provided the county with a working platform. But it showed information that was a month old, not real-time. The platform has proved crucial for tracking the county’s emissions goals, according to Brian Beffort, Washoe County’s sustainability manager, despite NZero not providing the promised real-time data. “Without it I would be shadow boxing, ” he said.
The county had been without access to even its month-old data for almost a year when NV Energy shut down the feed. But NZero continued to collect its$ 6,000 monthly fee for providing it. Beffort claimed that he had n’t noticed the interruption immediately and that he thought NZero would be held accountable for its actions. The county is working on a fix, but as of July, that process was n’t yet finalized.
Beffort remarked,” This is on NV Energy, not NZero, to be clear.”
The state had a similar problem. Nevada agreed to sign a contract for what was meant to be a small pilot program, unlike the city or the county. NZero would track real-time emissions from just five state buildings, rather than government-wide operations.
Yochum was in charge of the pilot project. Six months into the yearlong contract, NZero was still trying to wrangle data from Southwest Gas. And shortly after choosing a method for putting historical data into both electricity and gas, NV Energy decided to revoke the data completely and stop communicating with it.
The real-time data to make on-the-spot decisions about energy usage never materialized, Yochum said.
According to a NV Energy spokesperson, the utility no longer provides customer data directly to third-party vendors in order to protect its” sensitive data.” ”
Influence vs. Research
Before signing a contract, governments should carefully check whether a company that offers carbon tracking technology has access to utility data, Taylor argued.
With NZero, the governments tailored their solicitation letters directly to what NZero said it was offering. She claimed that she was instructed to do so and that the contract should be structured to avoid a drawn-out and competitive process. At the time, contracts valued at less than$ 25,000 could be approved without a public vote by elected officials.
Although Yochum would n’t say who told her to do these things, her emails from the time revealed where the pressure was mounting: “This is a priority for the Governor’s Office, ” Yochum wrote in an email urging the state budget office to finish the contract in less time.
In a June 2021 email, Robin Yochum, a former programs manager at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy, informed the state’s budget office that the NZero contract was a priority for the governor’s office. ( Retained and corrected by ProPublica )
In Yochum’s mind, the pilot project had failed and she expected to move on from NZero, which she described as a good company but not right for the state’s needs. However, NZero submitted a glitzy 15-page proposal for nearly$ 13 million in American Rescue Plan funding for an “expanded partnership ” with the state one month after Yochum wrote a memo outlining where the company’s pilot project had failed.
Emails obtained by ProPublica show Josh Griffin stepped up his lobbying of the administration, working the governor’s new energy adviser and chief of staff, Yvanna Cancela, who explored how to get NZero a$ 5 million contract without a competitive process. NZero could also offer its services through a current state contractor. NZero then signed a partnership agreement with Deloitte Consulting.
She objected when Yochum learned about the effort to avoid a competitive process.
“ I was told, ‘We have to do this. The governor’s office wants to do it, Yochum said.” We will do it,” Yochum continued.
I was told, ‘We have to do this. We will do it because the governor’s office wants to do it. ’
—Robin Yochum, a former programs manager at the Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy
Other skeptics about the state employed by Choum included. A purchasing official pointed to significant delays in the pilot project and warned that Cancela’s close communication with NZero could “create an appearance of impropriety in a future solicitation, ” wrote Gideon Davis, one purchasing officer.
Another claimed that if the goal was to reduce carbon emissions,$ 5 million might not be the best use. The director of the Nevada Department of Administration, Laura Freed, sent a lengthy email with a half-dozen alternative sustainability projects, including prioritizing the purchase of electric vehicles, upgrading state-owned building metering for gas and electricity, and requiring zero-energy use building plans for new buildings. The proposal appeared to be pointless.
The state has known for years where it needs to make energy improvements. Nearly 2,000 energy-efficient projects were listed in the public works department in 2009, some of which were as simple as replacing fluorescent light bulbs. Fifteen years later, the state is still working to fund those projects. Public works received$ 9 in 2021. 4 million for a handful of projects, including changing light bulbs listed as a priority in 2009. No money was spent on the projects listed last year.
“If I had$ 5 million to spend to pursue things that would meaningfully advance the state of Nevada’s climate leadership, there are other things I would spend it on, such as energy efficiency upgrades to state buildings, ” said one former state employee involved in the project, who asked not to be named because they feared it could hurt their current employment. That is the “bread and butter,” the saying goes. We know the problem buildings. The infrastructure is aging, we are aware of. We got the backlog of deferred maintenance. With$ 5 million, you can make some good investments in infrastructure improvements. ”
The governor’s office ignored NZero’s concerns. Yochum’s frustration over it, in part, led her to resign from the state in March 2023.
Cassandra consented when the purchasing department stated a competitive process would be necessary. She told ProPublica she was in charge of pursuing the governor’s priorities and, after consulting with state energy and finance experts, she had determined NZero’s concept “had merit, ” but “the appropriate path forward was a competitive bidding process. She also sought advice and was unfamiliar with government purchasing regulations, according to the emails.
The request for proposals went out in October 2022. Three businesses responded. And in December, NZero, the company that had convinced the state such a project was needed in the first place, was declared the bid winner.
Josh Griffin claimed that by looking for a way to avoid competition, he did n’t do anything wrong. When he was told the contract had to go out to bid, he stopped lobbying, he said.
He claimed,” We were n’t attempting to sway our way through it.”
Matt Griffin, who worked as the company ’s legal counsel for three years and was listed on early incorporation documents along with other members of the Griffins ’ lobbying firm, said he did n’t want to comment. The company’s CEO, Josh Weber, claimed he had no involvement with the company when the state contract was being developed or negotiated.
Deals Under a New Governor
Sisolak lost his election bid as the final details of the$ 5 million contract were being discussed. When Gov. When Joe Lombardo took office in 2023, he abandoned Sisolak’s climate strategy, which NZero had used to support its proposal. Lombardo’s energy plan focused more on electricity generation ( prioritizing natural gas ) and transmission than climate action. That signaled a switch away from emission tracking.
But the change from a Democratic to a Republican administration did n’t change NZero’s fortunes. NZero was allegedly lobbying the new administration as the contract was being negotiated, in a clear violation of state laws governing the competitive bid process.
“It has come to my attention that employees or representatives of the intended vendor, NZero, have communicated directly with you or others at the state regarding the final stages of this contract, ” Davis, the state purchasing officer handling the contract, wrote to Lombardo’s new energy director, Dwayne McClinton. According to a governor’s office spokesman, Davis requested McClinton’s letter to ensure compliance after only three weeks of work. ” Josh Griffin said he did n’t know to which communication Davis was referring but did n’t believe the bidding restrictions on communication applied during the time the contract was being negotiated.
The administration moved forward with the contract because it believed it had the power to lower the state’s energy consumption, energy bills, and carbon footprint, according to Jeanne Stoneman, Lombardo’s deputy director of energy. ( Stoneman left her position with the state in June. )
Griffin said by the time the contract was signed, NZero had a work-around for getting data from NV Energy. According to him, the state should provide NZero login information to all of its electricity accounts, which the company promised to keep private. ( In one email obtained by ProPublica, an NZero staffer advised the Nevada National Guard to turn off two-factor authentication so the company could get into the account. )
Still, the project was plagued by delays and skeptical state employees.
When the energy office attempted to schedule a “project kickoff meeting ” with Team NZero, as the new partnership with Deloitte was known as, I did not recall the program providing us with any more detailed information than what we already generate ourselves, ” the energy manager for state public works wrote to his supervisor. Another brought up “serious security concerns” about sharing account login credentials with a third party.
The project had just begun, barely beginning, when it was supposed to be finished in November.
Although the Team NZero project was suffering from severe delays at the end of last year, documents show the team began to resolve the problems in January. Sometimes the resolution simply stated that it would not cover all departments that had been challenging to communicate with. McClinton said in a June interview that energy use in 95 % of state buildings is now being tracked in real time.
In April, about a month later and without the data from the non-participating departments, NZero gave its capital planning report to the state. Because of the delays, Team NZero did not close out the project until July, three months after the contract ended. According to McClinton,” no decisions or adjustments have been made based on the data yet.” ”
The delay in the project was attributed to the state’s utility accounts ‘ lack of security, according to Lambardo’s spokesperson.
“Ultimately, the state was able to provide nZero with limited access to accounts without control features, which ensured minimal external access, ” she said.
A comment request from Deloitte was not received.
Despite Team NZero’s project delays, Josh Griffin did n’t stop pushing for even more money. Griffin fought for the governor’s proposed budget to include another$ 11 million during the legislative session in the early 2023 session. When the administration denied the request, the company turned to the Legislature. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro introduced a crucial emergency bill that, among other things, would allow lawmakers to monitor electrical energy consumption in “near real-time” in the final hours of the session. ”
The Governor’s office stated at the time that they were fully supportive of funding for the program’s continuation, and they were pleased to discover a bipartisan consensus area for encouraging more environmentally friendly government practices, according to Cannizzaro’s spokesperson in a written statement.
To assuage the concerns of skeptical lawmakers, Cannizzaro had assured them that money from the bill would be subject to a competitive bid process. In an interview with ProPublica, McClinton echoed that sentiment.
But in March, McClinton’s office made another move that would have skirted the competitive process. It attempted to funnel an additional$ 8 at the governor’s office’s direction. 87 million to NZero by amending the contract without putting it out to bid, according to emails obtained by ProPublica. Again, purchasing officers halted the “enormous amount ” because it was flagged as inappropriate for a contract amendment by an administration employee.
A spokesperson for McClinton said despite the go-ahead on the amendment from his department’s lawyers, he continued to look for other possible vendors and discovered another company was already tracking vehicle emissions for the state. The effort to amend NZero’s contract was dropped, and that company received more money to expand its services. McClinton said his office may still open a bidding process for remaining funds from Cannizzaro’s bill and NZero would be welcome to compete.
In addition, both Josh Griffin and Matt Griffin both left earlier this year and the NZero board has appointed Weber, one of the co-founders, as their replacement CEO. The company has lost about a third of its employees, according to a LinkedIn estimate. According to Weber, the contract with Nevada was unrelated to the restructuring. He added he’s excited about the company ’s future as it refocuses on new tools to help its customers “optimize their efforts to reduce impact on the planet. ”
