History

In 1997, Glenn Drayton was completing his doctoral thesis at the University of Canterbury. During his studies, he participated in an energy market research group with a strong focus on modeling. He began creating a rapid application development library, which allowed him to complete industrial-scale mathematical programming.

After his thesis, Glenn took a consulting role with a transmission system operator and quickly saw the need to test a range of designs in the energy market. In 1999, he expanded the original program written during his thesis and founded a company under the name Drayton Analytics. By mid-2000, the first version of PLEXOS was released.

Before long, PLEXOS was officially adopted by the Irish SEM as its modeling standard and the software began developing a global presence. Demand also increased dramatically due to the effects of the California energy crisis in 2002.

In 2006, Drayton Analytics transformed its business plan and was renamed to Energy Exemplar. Energy Exemplar grew its customer base in the United States and Europe by opening three regional offices with in-time-zone support.

The company achieved a major milestone in 2015 when the 1,000th installation of PLEXOS was completed. This made PLEXOS the most widely used energy market software in the world.

Two years later, this success caught the attention of the Riverside Company, a private equity group that acquired Energy Exemplar. As part of the growth plan, Energy Exemplar also acquired EPIS, LLC. The EPIS platform, Aurora, complemented the PLEXOS suite and increased brand recognition across the United States and Canada.

In 2024, Energy Exemplar entered a transformative phase when it was acquired by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners. These partnerships enabled the acquisition of Adapt2 Solutions, further enhancing Energy Exemplar’s capabilities and cementing its role as a leading provider of end-to-end energy modeling solutions.

Today, Energy Exemplar continues empowering transformative energy decisions, helping clients worldwide model and optimize cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy systems. 

Awards and Recognitions

The Latest

Energy Exemplar in the News