Salt River Project Selects Willdan’s LoadSEER Software to Support Planning, Grid Modernization, and DER Integration

ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Willdan Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WLDN) announced today that Salt River Project (SRP), a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, has selected LoadSEER to deliver foundational load and distributed energy resource (DER) planning as part of its grid modernization strategy. LoadSEER is the flagship software application of Willdan’s software unit, Integral Analytics. This five-year contract was signed on September 26 and provides SRP, as the first utility in Arizona to utilize LoadSEER, access to more granular network intelligence, while allowing the utility to efficiently invest in its distribution network, based on in-depth analysis of evolving customer energy use patterns and the emerging impact of solar, storage, and electric vehicles.

“LoadSEER will add a critical analytics layer to our capabilities, empowering our team to meet distributed energy resource integration and grid modernization objectives as part of SRP’s 2035 Sustainability Goals,” said John Coggins, SRP’s Associate General Manager and Chief Power System Executive. “LoadSEER will leverage our investments in data acquisition, telemetry, metering, and customer programs to more precisely understand how to serve our customers’ needs with a changing mix of resources at the lowest possible cost.”

“LoadSEER addresses the complexity and risks in grid planning unique to Arizona, such as the volatility of solar production and the rapid electric load growth in many areas,” said Tom Brisbin, Willdan’s Chairman and CEO. “With LoadSEER, SRP can pursue the optimal mix of resources to serve customers reliably at every point on their network.”

About Salt River Project (SRP)
SRP, which has been serving central Arizona since 1903 as the oldest multipurpose federal reclamation project in the United States, today is one of the nation’s largest public power utilities. SRP provides electricity to more than 1 million retail customers in a 2,900-square-mile service area that spans three Arizona counties, including most of the metropolitan Phoenix area. An integrated utility providing generation, transmission, distribution, metering and billing services, SRP is also the largest raw water supplier in the Phoenix area, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to agricultural, urban and municipal water users. To learn more about SRP, please visit www.srpnet.com.

About Willdan
Willdan is a nationwide provider of professional technical and consulting services to utilities, government agencies, and private industry. Willdan’s service offerings span a broad set of complementary disciplines that include electric grid solutions, energy efficiency and sustainability, engineering and planning, and municipal financial consulting. For additional information, visit Willdan's website at www.willdan.com.

About Integral Analytics
Integral Analytics, a unit of Willdan Group, Inc., provides trusted software products that merge economics and engineering to deliver statistically-robust forecasting and valuation analytics through which over 40 utilities and distributed energy resource owners make optimized financial and engineering decisions. More information is available at: www.integralanalytics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical, including statements regarding Willdan's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, estimates, plans or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risk that Willdan will not be able to expand its services or meet the needs of customers in markets in which it operates. It is important to note that Willdan’s actual results could differ materially from those in any such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, Willdan’s ability to adequately complete projects in a timely manner, Willdan’s ability to compete successfully in the highly competitive energy efficiency services market, changes in state, local, and regional economies and government budgets, Willdan’s ability to win new contracts, to renew existing contracts (including with its two largest customers) and to compete effectively for contract awards through bidding processes and Willdan’s ability to successfully integrate its acquisitions and execute on its growth strategy. Willdan’s business could be affected by a number of other factors, including the risk factors listed from time to time in Willdan’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 29, 2017. Willdan cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Willdan disclaims any obligation to, and does not undertake to, update or revise any forward-looking statements in this press release.


Contacts

Willdan Group, Inc.
Stacy McLaughlin, 714-940-6300
Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
or
Investor/Media Contact
Financial Profiles, Inc.
Tony Rossi, 310-622-8221
[email protected]