Opower named to Fortune’s ‘Change the World’ list

Virginia-based Opower has been named to Fortune’s first “Change the World” list, which recognizes 51 companies that have made a major impact on global social or environmental problems as part of their strategy.

The Arlington-based energy management company ranked No. 45 on the list. It joins companies like Google, Facebook, Starbucks, Whole Foods, CVS Health, Nike and Twitter. The No. 1 companies on Fortune’s list were U.K.-based Vodafone and Kenyan telecom Safaricom.

Opower is a publicly traded company whose software helps utilities and their customers reduce energy consumption.  “Smiley faces are stamped on specially delivered energy reports, and data from neighbors are pooled together for comparison, adding an element of pride (or shame) to your power usage,” Fortune says about Opower’s product.

Opower’s software is used by more than 95 utilities. According to Opower, it has helped customers save more than $1 billion and enough energy to power all of the homes in New Mexico for a year. Fortune says the company had revenues of $128 million last year.

To compile the “Change the World” list, Fortune received 200 recommendations from dozens of business, academic, and nonprofit experts around the world. Companies were vetted on four criteria: the degree of business innovation involved, the measurable impact at scale on an important social challenge, the contribution of the shared value activities to the company’s profitability and competitive advantage, and the significance of the shared value effort to the overall business.