Columbus businesses can now track energy use and cut costs — for free
New Smart Columbus pilot delivers personalized energy insights while building citywide emissions intelligence
A new Smart Columbus pilot is giving businesses across Central Ohio clearer insight into their utility use, energy costs, and emissions, while also helping inform regional energy planning efforts.
The Emissions Mapping Pilot, developed by Smart Columbus and Energi.AI with City of Columbus funding, gives participating businesses six months of free access to advanced energy tracking and analysis, while contributing anonymized data to help shape the region's energy future.
The goal is to help local businesses optimize their energy usage to save costs, support long-term energy resilience efforts, and contribute to a shared understanding of how resources are used across Columbus.
What businesses get: Clear insights, immediate value
The platform provides participating businesses with a personalized dashboard that tracks usage, costs and emissions across electricity, gas, water, and waste, breaking the data down by location, provider, and timeframe.
That data is used to:
Offer actionable recommendations for energy efficiency, cost savings, and emissions reduction
Benchmark performance against similar businesses
Model future usage and emissions trends
Generate Scope 1 and 2 emissions reports
Support regulatory and stakeholder reporting requirements
Here's what makes this pilot unique: your business insights contribute to something larger. Participating businesses can choose to include their anonymized data in a citywide “Community View” emissions map. That map helps public partners identify energy-intensive areas, prioritize infrastructure improvements, and design more targeted incentives. Participation in the Community View is optional, and businesses choose whether to include their anonymized data during onboarding.
The full pilot runs from July 2025 to July 2026, with the citywide Community View launching in November 2025.
The bigger picture: Building Columbus's energy intelligence
For many businesses, utility and emissions data is scattered or difficult to interpret. This pilot addresses a common challenge: how to translate that data into insight, and how to use it to inform decisions that affect operations, budgets, and long-term strategy.
The platform was developed to work with the data businesses already have, such as utility bills from 2023 or 2024, and turn it into accessible insights. Set up with quick and easy personalized support from Energi.AI staff throughout. Most participants are fully set up in under an hour, with one-on-one support provided throughout.
Who’s participating, and how to get involved
Participants already include companies from across Central Ohio’s healthcare, manufacturing, and service sectors, including OhioHealth, Huntington, Installed Building Products, Bread Financial, The Ohio State University, and others
Each organization receives:
Six months of free access to the Energi.AI platform
A custom emissions dashboard and reporting suite
Ongoing technical support and onboarding assistance
Participation is funded by the City of Columbus and open to up to 50 businesses on a rolling basis. Any organization with operations in Franklin County can participate; organizations interested in joining the pilot can sign up now.
For questions or more information, contact Marcus Carano at mc@smartcolumbus.com.