WINDSOR, Colo., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Ice Energy, a leading provider of smart grid-enabled distributed energy storage solutions to the electric utility industry, today announced it has completed a $24 million first closing of its Series C financing.

The $24 million investment provides Ice Energy with working and growth capital to support its deployment of utility-scale distributed energy storage projects throughout the United States and Canada, including a 53-Megawatt project currently underway with the Southern California Public Power Authority, the largest of its kind in the industry.

TIAA-CREF joined new and existing investors, including Energy Capital Partners, Good Energies, Sail Ventures and Second Avenue Partners, to participate in the round.

TIAA-CREF's $4.5 million private equity investment in Ice Energy is its first under a new Green Building Technology Partnership with Good Energies, through which TIAA-CREF's Global Social and Community Investing Department will invest in energy efficiency companies and green building technologies alongside Good Energies' venture capital investments. These investments seek to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings.

Energy storage is widely considered a key requirement for improving energy efficiency, maximizing the value of intermittent wind and solar generation, and meeting rising peak electrical demand. Ice Energy's distributed energy storage solution enables utility companies to use more efficient, less expensive off-peak power to produce and store energy for use during periods of peak demand.

The widespread installation by utilities of Ice Energy's ice-based energy storage technology directly on individual commercial buildings has the potential to permanently shift as much as 40% of peak energy demand to off-peak hours.  When aggregated and deployed at scale, this represents a significant new asset-based, sustainable energy resource equivalent to thousands of megawatts of clean peaking power for utilities, enabling them to deliver reliable, competitively priced electric service to their customers in a sustainable, environmentally-sensitive manner.

For the businesses and buildings where the units are installed, this means lower daytime energy consumption, increased efficiency and lower energy costs, a smaller environmental footprint, and improved comfort for customers and employees.

"At TIAA-CREF, we continue to support innovations that improve the viability of alternative energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Cherie Santos-Wuest, director of TIAA-CREF's Global Social & Community Investments "Advanced energy storage is a crucial part of the new clean energy economy, and Ice Energy's technology is at the forefront in terms of cost-effectiveness, scalability and reliability."

"We are pleased to collaborate with this strategic group of investors and look forward to growing Ice Energy and the broader energy storage market with their support. Their engagement and commitment is tangible proof of the critical role energy storage must play if we are to achieve a cleaner, smarter and more efficient energy system for our country," said Frank Ramirez, CEO of Ice Energy. "This latest investment gives us considerable resources to further develop our technology platform, explore new products, and rapidly expand our solution across a much wider set of customers."

ABOUT ICE ENERGY

Ice Energy is a leading provider of advanced energy storage and smart grid solutions to the electric utility industry.  Founded in 2003, the company is dedicated to transforming energy system efficiency and improving grid reliability through the development of advanced technology solutions that promote the efficient use of energy resources, reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, and enable the transition to a cleaner, smarter, more sustainable power grid. The company is headquartered in Windsor, Colorado, with offices in Orange County and Sacramento, California.

For more information, visit www.ice-energy.com or follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/IceENRG.

SOURCE Ice Energy