SWTCH is poised to improve electric vehicle charging accessibility with low-cost solutions tailored to multi-family buildings at all income levels

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SWTCH Energy Inc. has closed $13 million USD in new financing to expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions to multi-family buildings across North America, with an emphasis on serving the transition to electrified transportation for market-rate and low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities. The new capital includes a $10 million USD Series A round led by the venture capital arm of Aligned Climate Capital and a $3 million USD credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Additional Series A investors include Landmark Management Inc., Elemental Energy, IBI Group, Active Impact Investments, and Pacific Reach.

SWTCH provides EV charging and energy management solutions that address the unique challenges of EV ownership in multi-family buildings of all kinds. SWTCH’s unique approach to EV charging and energy management lowers the financial and technological barriers to EV ownership by employing cost-effective, software-based energy management solutions to multi-family buildings where electrical infrastructure hardware upgrades can be prohibitively expensive. Additionally, SWTCH’s charging-as-a-service model reduces the financial barriers to providing equitable access to EV charging infrastructure, which eliminates the upfront costs and reduces the operational costs of EV charging management by incorporating clean fuel standard credits, charging infrastructure incentives, and ancillary service market participation as part of the core offering.

“SWTCH’s mission is centered on realizing the social, economic, and environmental benefits of widespread EV adoption,” said Carter Li, CEO of SWTCH. “We know that more than 80% of EV charging occurs at home and 30% of homes in North America are multi-family, so improving access to EV charging infrastructure in multi-family buildings is critical to enabling widespread EV adoption. With over 75% of our charging stations currently deployed in multi-family buildings, SWTCH strongly believes in the importance of providing equitable, convenient, and affordable charging access at home, where people need it the most. This round of new financing will help us accelerate our growth into these locations by expanding our ability to fund more charging-as-a-service projects in low- and moderate-income communities across North America.”

“With rising gas prices, more and more Americans are looking to purchase electric vehicles. But that means we need more charging infrastructure and we need it where people live,” said Peter Davidson, CEO of Aligned Climate Capital. “We are proud to invest in a company that makes it easier for people to go electric, save money, and be a part of the climate solution.”

“SVB is excited to support SWTCH as they scale EV charger deployments in the critical multi-family building segment,” said Graeme Millen, Managing Director at SVB Canada. “Providing creative capital to enable SWTCH’s Charging-as-a-Service model is aligned with our commitment to the Climate Tech and Sustainability sector and helping accelerate the impact of companies and founders developing and scaling game-changing technology.”

SWTCH charging systems are currently installed in 200 multi-family buildings, 50% of which are classified as low-to-moderate income. As a current cohort of the Clean Fight Program, a not-for-profit climate-tech accelerator supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New Energy Nexus, SWTCH is collaborating with other clean building technology providers to decarbonize and electrify the mass of New York’s non-luxury residential and commercial buildings, in order to generate equitable climate impacts while providing health, comfort, and savings benefits to LMI communities most impacted by the climate crisis. Under the new $2.5 billion Discretionary Grant Program for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure established by President Biden’s $7.5 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, at least 50 percent of this funding will be used for a community grant program where priority is given to projects that expand access to EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure within LMI communities.

“SWTCH was selected as one of just a handful of cohort companies from a very competitive applicant pool to participate in the Clean Fight program that’s focused on high impact solutions that bring the environmental, economic and health benefits of deep decarbonization to non-luxury buildings. After less than six months in the program, SWTCH is already working on new installations in LMI communities in NY with two different partners in The Clean Fight, in collaboration with two other participating cohort companies,” said Thatcher Bell, Program Director at The Clean Fight.

By the end of 2022, SWTCH expects to manage 5,000 charging ports in over 900 locations in all 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces, of which over 50% will be in low-to-moderate income multi-family buildings.

About SWTCH Energy Inc.

SWTCH is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with offices in Brooklyn, New York and Boston, Massachusetts. The company electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy management solutions streamline charging for drivers while optimizing usage and revenue for multi-family building operators. SWTCH is a proud member of Open Charge Alliance (OCA), OpenADR Alliance, and CharIN, basing its EV charging platform on open communication standards to ensure interoperable, scalable, and future-proof charging solutions to its clients.

About Aligned Climate Capital

Aligned Climate Capital LLC is an asset manager investing exclusively in the people, companies, and real assets that are decarbonizing the global economy. Founded in 2019, Aligned is a dynamic and mission-driven firm that believes solving climate change is a unique opportunity to generate strong financial returns, while also achieving meaningful environmental and social impact. The team works at the intersection of finance, technology, and public policy with a particular focus on ESG metrics. For more information, please visit www.AlignedClimateCapital.com.

About Silicon Valley Bank

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) helps innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides a full range of financial services and expertise to companies of all sizes in innovation centers around the world. SVB is recognized as one of the world’s best employers by Forbes, and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. In 2022, SVB committed to provide at least $5 billion by 2027 in loans, investments and other financing to support sustainability efforts and the company has set a goal to achieve carbon neutral operations by 2025. SVB’s sustainable finance commitment aims to support companies that are working to decarbonize the energy and infrastructure industries and hasten the transition to a sustainable, net zero emissions economy. Learn more at svb.com/Canada.

About The Clean Fight – New Energy Nexus

The Clean Fight is a not-for-profit clean energy accelerator designed to attract growth-stage startups to scale business in New York State. Supported by The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New Energy Nexus, this accelerator is open to companies from across the United States and around the world who are aggressively advancing ways to meet carbon reduction mandates, while boosting economic opportunity and job creation for all. www.thecleanfight.com.

Contacts

SWTCH Energy Inc.

info@swtchenergy.com
1-844-798-2438

Isaac Steinmetz

Antenna Group for SWTCH Energy

swtch@antennagroup.com

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AssetClass–H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with over $48 billion of equity capital under management, is pleased to announce that its affiliate, H.I.G. Realty Credit Partners, has originated a loan for the acquisition of a 5-property, 4,000-unit self-storage portfolio located across three states in New England.

The loan was made to an affiliate of Prime Group Holdings, LLC, a self-storage owner and operator. The properties are newly-built, best-in-class assets that are well-located within their respective markets.

“We are excited to finance an asset class with such strong fundamentals. Given Prime’s excellent track record, we look forward to their continued success in these markets,” said Michael Mestel, Managing Director at H.I.G. Realty Credit Partners.

About H.I.G. Realty Partners

H.I.G. Realty Partners is the real estate platform of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative assets investment firm with over $48 billion of equity capital under management. H.I.G. Realty Partners manages $8.2 billion of assets and focuses on small-to-mid cap real estate, targeting both equity and debt investments across all property types located throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Debt investments include senior bridge loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity collateralized by transitional properties and portfolios. Equity investments are concentrated on the acquisition of value-add assets, employing a hands-on, operationally focused approach that seeks to generate substantial cash flow and asset appreciation through rehabilitating, redeveloping, repositioning and rebranding assets that have been capital starved and/or poorly managed. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website www.higcapital.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with over $48 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:

1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
4. H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.

* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.

Contacts

Michael Mestel

Managing Director

mmestel@higrealty.com

Steven Schwartz

Managing Director

sschwartz@higcapital.com

LADERA RANCH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Strategic Storage Trust VI, Inc. (“SST VI”), a publicly-registered real estate investment trust sponsored by an affiliate of SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (“SmartStop”), announced today the acquisition of two recently-constructed self storage facilities in the Greater Philadelphia MSA. These represent the 11^th and 12^th acquisitions in SST VI. Since SST VI launched as a private REIT in the first quarter of 2021, the REIT has purchased approximately $165 million of self storage facilities and land parcels to be developed into self storage.

“We are excited to add these two newly-constructed properties to the SST VI portfolio, and simultaneously enter the Philadelphia market,” said Wayne Johnson, Chief Investment Officer of SST VI. “With our tenth acquisition in program, we believe we are amassing a very high quality portfolio that we expect will create strong value for stockholders.”

Located at 401 Bellevue Road, the newly constructed facility in Newark, DE, a suburb of Philadelphia, is a state-of-the-art facility that is well positioned to serve the areas of Wilson, Brookside, Ogletown, and The University of Delaware. Opened in August 2021, the four-story facility is comprised of approximately 80,650 square feet of rental space. The facility’s 830 units are 100% climate controlled with a blend of first-floor and elevator access units. Further, it is the only storage facility offering climate-controlled units within a 2-mile radius.

The Levittown, PA facility, which opened in October 2021, is located at 1723 Woodbourne Road in the Levittown, PA, the largest suburb of Philadelphia. The three-story facility offers approximately 78,000 square feet of rental space and 810 units, 100% of which is interior climate controlled. This location serves the areas of Fairless Hills, Langhorne, Woodbourne and Fallsington. The new SmartStop® Self Storage location has desirable amenities including a sophisticated security system, secured and alarmed doors, gated entry and interior climate-controlled units with spacious elevators for second and third level units.

About Strategic Storage Trust VI, Inc. (SST VI):

SST VI is a Maryland corporation that intends to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. SST VI’s primary investment strategy is to invest in income-producing and growth self storage facilities and related self storage real estate investments in the Unites States and Canada. As of April 26, 2022, SST VI has a portfolio of ten operating properties in the United States comprising approximately 6,830 units and 701,850 rentable square feet and joint venture interests in two development properties in Toronto, Ontario.

About SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (SmartStop):

SmartStop is a self-managed REIT with a fully integrated operations team of approximately 420 self storage professionals focused on growing the SmartStop® Self Storage brand. SmartStop, through its indirect subsidiary SmartStop REIT Advisors, LLC, also sponsors other self storage programs. As of April 26, 2022, SmartStop has an owned and managed portfolio of 167 properties in 22 states and Ontario, Canada, and comprising approximately 113,800 units and 12.9 million rentable square feet. SmartStop and its affiliates own or manage 19 operating self storage properties in the Greater Toronto Area, which total approximately 16,200 units and 1.7 million rentable square feet. Additional information regarding SmartStop is available at www.smartstopselfstorage.com.

Contacts

David Corak
VP of Corporate Finance

SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc.

949-429-3331

IR@smartstop.com

CONDITIONAL COMMITMENT FROM THE DOE’S LOAN PROGRAMS OFFICE IS THE LATEST MILESTONE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST GREEN HYDROGEN HUB, WHICH HAS ALSO SECURED ALL OTHER MAJOR CONTRACTS.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#ChangeInPower–The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office announced today that it has issued a conditional commitment to Advanced Clean Energy Storage I, LLC, and Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. and Magnum Development, LLC, and Haddington Ventures, LLC, for up to $504.4MM in debt financing for the Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project, expected to be the world’s largest industrial green hydrogen production and storage facility (the “Project”). This conditional funding commitment signifies the latest development milestone for the Project.

The industry-leading Advanced Clean Energy Storage hydrogen hub, located in Delta, Utah, was announced in May 2019, and within three years is in the final stages of debt and equity closing. Currently, the hub has secured all major contracts including offtake; engineer, procure and construct (EPC) contractors; major equipment suppliers, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) providers. Haddington Ventures, the financial advisor for the hub and equity sponsor of Magnum Development, is securing $650MM through its Equity Syndication Program. These critical financial investments will ensure the future growth and scalability of the hub.

“We are unbelievably excited to reach this important milestone, not just for our hub, but for the hydrogen industry as a whole,” said Michael Ducker, Senior Vice President of Hydrogen Infrastructure for Mitsubishi Power Americas and President of Advanced Clean Energy Storage I. “Equally rewarding is having spent the past year partnering and working with such a forward-thinking and incredibly talented team from the Intermountain Power Agency to trail blaze this market leading facility. We are honored to be sharing this industry moment with them along with all of our world-class partners joining this effort.”

The hub will initially be designed to convert renewable energy through 220 MW of electrolyzers to produce up to 100 metric tonnes per day of green hydrogen, which will then be stored in two massive salt caverns each capable of storing 150 GWh of energy. Financed with support from the DOE loan guarantee, this facility will supply hydrogen feedstock to the Intermountain Power Agency’s (IPA) IPP Renewed Project — an 840 MW hydrogen capable gas turbine combined cycle power plant — that will initially run on a blend of 30 percent green hydrogen and 70 percent natural gas by volume starting in 2025 and will increase to 100 percent by 2045.

“The IPP Renewed Project is committed to helping the region meet its carbon targets by utilizing green hydrogen as a tool to integrate affordably and reliably with the significant build-out of renewables. The scale, experience, and collaboration offered by the Advanced Clean Energy Storage hydrogen hub made their team the ideal partner for us to work with as we realize our vision towards 100% green hydrogen at the site,” said Greg Huynh, Operating Agent, IPA.

Multiple industry-leading entities are also involved in the hub, which broke ground this Spring, including:

• Black & Veatch, an industry leader in engineering, procurement, and construction which will provide EPC services for the energy conversion facility and will draw on its extensive experience building complex energy infrastructure projects to construct the hydrogen production facilities.
• Mitsubishi Power, an industry leader in technology offerings, will provide the hydrogen equipment integration including the 220 MW of electrolyzers, gas separators, rectifiers, medium voltage transformers, and distributed control system.
• NAES Corporation, one of the energy industry’s largest independent providers of operations, maintenance, and repair services, will initially provide the O&M services for the plant and will oversee the current projected team of 20 plant-related personnel.
• Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, a subdivision of the State of Utah, leases the site and utilizes revenue generated from the hydrogen hub to benefit Utah schools.
• WSP, a global leader in engineering that develops creative, comprehensive and sustainable solutions to help communities thrive, will provide EPC Management services for the development of two large salt cavern storage facilities. WSP has been developing underground storage facilities since the 80s and has developed over 200 salt caverns for top tier midstream companies.

“The Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project is well on its way to achieving its goal in the creation of a world-class green hydrogen hub,” said Craig Broussard, CEO of the joint venture. “Through our network of partners, we have the potential to provide low-cost green hydrogen to verticals in addition to power, including refineries, heavy industrials, and the transportation sector.”

While this conditional commitment demonstrates the Department’s intent to finance the project, several steps remain, and certain conditions must be satisfied before DOE issues a loan guarantee.

The hub is actively seeking partners to bring green jobs and green hydrogen to support rural Utah and greater decarbonization across industries. For more information, visit www.aces-delta.com.

About Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc.

Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc. (Mitsubishi Power) headquartered in Lake Mary, Florida, employs more than 2,300 power generation, energy storage, and digital solutions experts and professionals. Our employees are focused on empowering customers to affordably and reliably combat climate change while also advancing human prosperity throughout North, Central, and South America. Mitsubishi Power’s power generation solutions include gas, steam, and aero-derivative turbines; power trains and power islands; geothermal systems; PV solar project development; environmental controls; and services. Energy storage solutions include green hydrogen, battery energy storage systems, and services. Mitsubishi Power also offers intelligent solutions that use artificial intelligence to enable autonomous operation of power plants. Mitsubishi Power is a power solutions brand of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, MHI is one of the world’s leading heavy machinery manufacturers with engineering and manufacturing businesses spanning energy, infrastructure, transport, aerospace, and defense. For more information, visit the Mitsubishi Power Americas website and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Magnum Development

Magnum Development, LLC is developing the only known “Gulf Coast” style domal-quality salt formation in the western United States. Magnum was founded in 2008 to create an energy hub centered around a large, little known salt body near Delta, Utah. Site viability and profitability has been proven with one business, Magnum NGLs, LLC, which was successfully developed, brought to commercialization, and sold in 2015. In March 2018, Magnum Development entered into a joint venture with Sawtooth by contributing its refined products business for an 8% ownership interest in the Sawtooth JV. A second JV was formed with Mitsubishi Power Systems in 2019 to add the storage and conversion of fossil free energy to the energy hub’s portfolio of products. As the Delta, Utah energy hub grows, Magnum will pursue additional strategic partners to broaden the strengths and products of the enterprise.

About Haddington Ventures

Founded in 1998, Haddington Ventures, LLC oversees a growing portfolio of successful conventional and renewable energy businesses that are bringing innovative new infrastructure to the U.S. energy sector. Haddington Ventures, through its private equity funds, generally makes control-oriented investments in portfolio companies acquiring or developing energy infrastructure underwritten by long term contracts. Haddington Ventures is led by a team of senior energy professionals who have invested more than $1.5 billion in companies focused on energy infrastructure across multiple private equity funds and co-investment partnerships.

About ACES Delta

ACES Delta is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Power Americas and Magnum Development. ACES Delta is developing the world’s largest renewable energy hub to produce, store, and deliver green hydrogen to the Western United States. Located in Delta, Utah, the Advanced Clean Energy Storage hub will serve as the country’s largest hydrogen gas and storage hub, initially providing over 300GWh of clean energy annually to the region. For more information, visit www.aces-delta.com.

Contacts

Communications Contacts
Mitsubishi Power Americas

Christa Reichhardt

+1 407-484-5599

Christa.Reichhardt@amermhi.com

Magnum Development

Michelle Judd

+1 801-748-5561

mjudd@magnumdev.com

Haddington Ventures

Sam Pyne

+1 713-532-7992

spyne@hvllc.com