Getting Utilities to Buy Your Product: Lessons from LineVision and the Utility Gauntlet

Selling to corporate clients is hard.

Selling to utilities? That’s next-level.

If you’ve ever tried to get your hardware or software into the operations of a water, power, or grid operator, you’ll know what I mean.

LineVision, a U.S.-based startup, managed to do what many couldn’t: land a paying utility customer. And in doing so, they illustrated something every cleantech startup needs to internalize early—just because your product is a no-brainer technically doesn’t mean it’s an easy sell commercially.

LineVision developed a solution that, on paper, looked like a silver bullet for overloaded electricity grids. Their dynamic line rating system—composed of non-contact sensors and smart analytics—could boost power line capacity by up to 40%. A simple install, real-time wind and weather monitoring, and a software interface that tells grid operators when lines can safely carry more load. Sounds perfect, right?

Well, not quite.

To understand why, you have to understand how utilities work. And for that, you need to forget almost everything you learned from selling to tech companies.

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Why Utilities Don’t Innovate (Until They Really, Really Have To)

Utility companies are regulated entities. Their revenues are largely determined by government-set tariffs. These are based on costs, not outcomes. If they save money using your technology, it might mean lower future revenue, not higher margins. That’s a big disincentive right out of the gate.

Add to that a strong internal culture of caution. Most utilities put service continuity above everything else. So the internal motto is: "If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Engineers are rewarded for keeping systems running, not trying new things.

That’s why most innovation pitches go nowhere. The only exceptions? When the pain becomes impossible to ignore.

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LineVision’s Real Opportunity: The Grid Is Getting Squeezed

LineVision spotted that inflection point. Load growth from data centers and renewables was stressing U.S. grids, and regulators were starting to demand answers. New transmission lines take years to permit and build. So, utilities needed a Plan B. LineVision offered a faster way to unlock hidden capacity from existing infrastructure.

But even then, it wasn’t a slam dunk.

Their breakthrough came with Duquesne Light Company (DLC) in Pennsylvania, one of the few U.S. utilities willing to act early. And even then, it was only possible because LineVision understood how to sell to utilities, not just pitch to them.

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How They Did It: From Innovation Team to “Pilot Hell”

The entry point was DLC’s innovation and strategy team. That’s where most utility partnerships begin—not in procurement or operations. The innovation team’s job is to anticipate future system needs. If your pitch solves a big enough problem, you’ll get passed to the technical team.

That’s when the real test begins.

LineVision pitched a live data stream from sensors to the cloud, which would feed real-time analytics to utility control rooms. Sounds smart? Not to utility engineers.

The moment they mentioned “cloud-based architecture,” the room went cold.

DLC’s cybersecurity protocols made cloud streaming a non-starter. Like many utilities, their control rooms are air-gapped from the internet. Not out of paranoia, but because if your grid gets hacked, bad things happen fast.

So LineVision went back to the drawing board. They rebuilt their system to run offline. No cloud streaming. Just weather inputs and pre-trained models, with data from sensors used for later validation, not real-time operations.

That pivot—not their original tech—is what got them the deal.

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Lessons for Climate Tech Startups

1. Utilities don’t reward efficiency. They reward reliability. Focus your pitch on operational resilience, not just savings.

2. Start with the technical case, not the business case. Until the engineering team signs off, nothing else matters.

3. Be ready to redesign. Security, compliance, and compatibility often matter more than your core innovation.

4. Timing is everything. Pain from external pressures (demand spikes, regulatory changes, infrastructure bottlenecks) creates the windows where innovation can get in.

5. Pilot Hell is real. Surviving it requires humility, persistence, and a willingness to learn from the customer’s side.

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Final Thoughts

We’re not going to decarbonize the grid just by making better tech. We have to embed that tech into organizations that are, by design, skeptical and slow to change. That means understanding their incentives, their fears, and their constraints—then working within them.

LineVision’s story is a masterclass in how to do just that.

If you’re building for the grid—or for any other conservative, regulated infrastructure sector—don’t just ask: Is my solution technically sound?

Ask: *Will a utility engineer be willing to bet their job on it?*

If not, you’re not done yet.

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✉️ Got a grid tech or cleantech scale-up challenge? Reach out. I’ve sat on both sides of the table and helped companies navigate from pitch to pilot to deployment. Let’s make your solution real.

This article was written on the basis of The Green Blueprint Podcast, Episode “LineVision’s quest to win over utilities” https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/linevisions-years-long-effort-to-operationalize-new-technology-at-utilities/