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March 24, 2021

Gates-backed geothermal installer plants CT flag

Photo | Contributed A Dandelion Energy crew installing a geothermal well in New York.
By Matt Pilon

A New York geothermal home heating installer backed by billionaires like Bill Gates and Ray Dalio has opened an operations center in Windsor.

Dandelion’s new lease at 460 Hayden Station Road represents its first brick-and-mortar presence in Connecticut and comes after the company, drawn by Connecticut geothermal incentives, began offering installations here last summer.

In an interview Wednesday, Dandelion CEO Michael Sachse said the company has done “dozens” of installs so far in Fairfield County and now wants to expand its focus to Greater Hartford and other regions.

“We feel like that’s gone really well,” Sachse said of the activity so far. “We wanted to set up shop in a place where we could serve more of the state.”

Dandelion’s new Windsor lease totals 21,000 square feet, which is half of the industrial flex property located at the junction of I-91 and the Bradley International Airport Connector.

Workers will use the facility as a staging ground and to store trucks, heat pumps and other equipment.

Dandelion Energy has leased space at 460 Hayden Station Road in Windsor.

Dandelion already has more than a dozen Connecticut-based employees.

“That number will definitely increase,” Sachse said, adding that the company will be looking to hire warehouse managers, HVAC installers, and well drillers to be based out of the Windsor facility.

“With 19,000 square feet, we would love to see well over 100 people there, but it’ll take some time for us to get there,” he said.

Well drillers are a particular challenge. Sachse said there aren’t many active drillers in Connecticut and that the state’s licensing requirements for those professionals are rigorous. That’s caused some delays, and Dandelion has had to use subcontractors as it works to get its drillers licensed here, a process that requires a written test.

Sachse’s expectations haven’t changed since last summer -- he still hopes to complete 800 installations across New York and Connecticut in 2021, and is aiming for at least 200 of them to be in Connecticut.

“We've been able to go to people’s homes and serve them safely and people are getting vaccinated [for COVID-19] now, including our employees,” he said. “We are pretty bullish on the future.”

Last month, Dandelion raised a $30 million Series B investment round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Led by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Breakthrough’s investors also include hedge fund magnate Ray Dalio, who is Connecticut’s wealthiest resident, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is the world’s wealthiest resident.  
 

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