# Hilo

**Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/hilo  
**Vertical:** Climate Tech  
**Subcategory:** Demand Response  
**Tier:** Emerging  
**Website:** hilo.energy  
**Last Updated:** 2026-04-14

## Summary

Hilo raised $100M+ and operates the largest residential demand response network in Quebec, using smart home devices to reduce grid stress during peak periods and enabling dynamic electricity pricing.

## Company Overview

Hilo is a smart home energy management platform operated by Hydro-Québec that uses AI to coordinate residential smart devices — thermostats, water heaters, EV chargers, and appliances — to reduce electricity consumption during grid stress events. By aggregating thousands of homes into a virtual power plant, Hilo enables the grid operator to call demand reductions equivalent to hundreds of megawatts without building new generation infrastructure.

Launched in 2020 as a subsidiary of Hydro-Québec, Hilo has enrolled over 100,000 Quebec households and demonstrated repeated demand response success across multiple winter peak events. Users receive bill credits for participating in challenge events where the system pre-conditions homes (pre-heating/cooling) and then reduces consumption during the peak hour, creating comfort-neutral demand flexibility.

As renewable energy penetration increases and electrification of heating and transportation creates new grid flexibility requirements, Hilo's model of utility-owned demand response platforms is being studied as a replicable model for other jurisdictions. The company is expanding its analytics platform to commercial buildings and exploring export to other Canadian and U.S. utility markets.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What does Hilo do?
Hilo coordinates smart home devices across tens of thousands of Quebec homes to reduce electricity demand during grid stress events, creating a virtual power plant that reduces the need for new generation infrastructure.

### How does Hilo benefit homeowners?
Hilo participants receive bill credits for participating in demand response challenge events, where the system automatically pre-conditions homes and reduces energy consumption during peak grid stress hours.

### Who owns Hilo?
Hilo is operated by Hydro-Québec, the provincial electric utility, as a subsidiary focused on residential demand flexibility and smart home energy management.

### What is Hilo's core product?
Hilo is a demand response platform offered by Hydro-Quebec that rewards Quebec homeowners for reducing electricity use during peak grid periods — primarily in winter. Participants connect smart devices and thermostats, then earn cash rewards for flexing consumption on demand.

### How does Hilo earn revenue?
Hilo earns revenue by aggregating residential demand flexibility and selling curtailment capacity to Hydro-Quebec, avoiding the need to purchase expensive peak power on the market. The platform is a subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec, so savings accrue to the provincial utility.

### What devices does Hilo support?
Hilo supports smart thermostats (including its own branded thermostat), electric vehicle chargers, water heaters, and other connected appliances. Participants download the Hilo app to manage devices and participate in challenge events.

### How are Hilo participants compensated?
Participants earn financial rewards based on how much electricity they reduce relative to their baseline during scheduled challenge events — typically 1-3 hours on cold winter evenings. The more devices enrolled and the greater the curtailment, the higher the payout.

### Is Hilo available outside Quebec?
As of 2024, Hilo operates exclusively in Quebec as a Hydro-Quebec initiative. Given the platform's utility-backed model, expansion would require partnerships with other utilities or a licensing model to enter new markets.

## Tags

energy, iot, technology, startup, b2c

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*Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*