Energy Guardian · Energy management platform

Energy Guardian: cost management, not just charger management.

A rate-aware energy management platform from EVready® Energy. It measures the power behind your charging and building loads, prevents demand charge spikes before they set your monthly bill, and turns that control into measurable savings every period.

See Energy Guardian on your sites → How it works
Energy Guardian dashboard showing estimated savings this billing period with peak demand reduced from 369 kW to 54 kW
The real cost of charging

It isn't the electricity — it's the peak.

Most commercial bills are driven by the demand charge: a fee based on your single highest interval of power draw, not how much energy you use. One DC fast charger can set that peak even when it's barely used. Traditional charger software watches whether the charger is on. Energy Guardian watches what it costs you — and lowers it.

How it works

Measure → Optimize → Monetize

01 · Measure

See where the money goes

Full visibility into consumption, peak demand, and rate exposure across every site and meter.

  • Increase operational visibility
02 · Optimize

Stop overpaying

Smart charging and peak shaving shape load against your tariff to bring the costly peaks down.

  • Reduce electricity costs
  • Reduce demand charges
  • Improve utility economics
03 · Monetize

Turn usage into savings

Qualify for utility programs and track the revenue and savings your infrastructure generates.

  • Unlock utility program participation
  • Generate measurable savings
What you get

The full picture, every billing period

Energy Guardian reports break down exactly what's driving your bill — and what was saved.

Estimated bill breakdown

Demand charge, charger energy, building energy, and fixed fees — see the share each drives.

Peak demand protection

Your peak without protection vs. the actual managed peak, with the dollars avoided.

Charger utilization

Sessions, energy delivered, and how hard each charger is actually working.

Protection frequency

How often Guardian actively intervened to hold your peak down.

Charger income

Network-reported session revenue, summed for the period, where chargers are paid.

Demand charge avoidance

A day-by-day view of peaks reached vs. peaks avoided across the period.

Network-agnostic

Works with the chargers you already have

Energy Guardian manages the energy regardless of charger brand — no rip-and-replace.

ChargePoint Blink + major networks
The Guardian platform

This is what your team sees every billing period

Real dashboards from live deployments — your peak demand, your bill breakdown, your savings, in one place.

Energy Guardian billing period view showing green savings banner, estimated utility bill breakdown with demand charge breakdown, and peak demand protection comparison

Billing period view. The green banner updates every period with your estimated savings. Below it: the full bill breakdown and the unprotected peak vs. your actual managed peak.

Energy Guardian live load monitoring chart showing real-time power consumption with demand threshold line

Live load monitoring. Real-time interval data with your demand threshold visible — Guardian is actively holding your peak below that line.

Energy Guardian historic chart showing day-by-day energy bars with demand charge line and avoided demand highlighted in green

Historic interval chart. Day-by-day view of peaks reached vs. avoided — the green bars are demand charges Guardian prevented.

Real results

Measured savings from EVready Guardian reports

Berger Chevrolet · Grand Rapids, MI · 30-day period
Peak without protection149.8 kW
Protected by Guardian116.9 kW
$680.94 est. savings / period
Apple Ford Lincoln · Baltimore Gas & Electric · 30-day period
Peak without protection563.6 kW
Protected by Guardian57.9 kW
$5,643.62 est. savings / period
90% peak demand reduction — charger income of $659.60 generated same period from 138 paid sessions.
Fleet depot · New Jersey · EV fleet charging · 30-day period
Peak without protection240.0 kW
Protected by Guardian105.6 kW
$7,105.95 est. savings / period
⚡ 10,600 kWh delivered across 121 charging sessions
📉 56% peak reduction — 240 kW unprotected → 105.6 kW managed
💡 Demand charge is 99.4% of this site's bill — Guardian is exceptionally high-leverage at a pure fleet depot.

Estimated demand-charge savings from EVready Guardian reports. Actual results vary by site, load profile, and utility tariff.

For operators evaluating platforms

What makes a building energy management system work for EV charging

For commercial and public-sector sites adding EV chargers, the useful definition of “best” is not a generic BMS scorecard. It is whether the system controls facility peak demand in real time so EV charging does not set avoidable demand charges — while staying network-agnostic and usable alongside the chargers you already have.

Energy Guardian is built for that job. It reads total building load, shapes EV charging against a demand ceiling, and targets the line item that actually drives commercial EV bills: the demand charge. Charger-only schedules and pure TOU timers help energy cost; they do not reliably stop coincident peaks. That distinction is why utilities are scaling active managed charging, and why commercial sites need the same idea at the meter.

Capability Energy Guardian Typical EV software / charger mgmt Generic building BMS
Facility-level demand ceiling Yes — shapes EV load against total site demand Often charger or schedule only May not model EV coincidence
Demand-charge focus (kW peaks) Primary design goal Secondary or absent Varies; rarely EV-specific
Network-agnostic (multi-brand chargers) Yes Often locked to one network Integration project
Rate / tariff awareness Yes Sometimes TOU only Varies
Measured interval-level results Published with client permission Rarely public Internal dashboards
Delivery model Managed service + install partner Software or network subscription Platform + integrator

Why EVready over a standard EV charger installer

Most installers deliver hardware and leave. The bill risk — demand charges from coincident EV load — starts after they leave. EVready pairs certified installation with Energy Guardian so peak management is designed in from day one, not retrofitted after the first shocking invoice. For public agencies, that stack is available under Sourcewell contract #041525-EVRY.

Related guides: What is load management for EV charging · What is peak shaving · Demand charges 101 · Why TOU rates aren’t enough

Energy Guardian FAQ

Questions we get

What is Energy Guardian?
A rate-aware energy optimization platform from EVready® Energy. It measures the energy behind your EV charging and building loads, optimizes it against your utility tariff to cut demand charges and electricity costs, and helps you monetize the result through utility programs and measurable savings.
Is Energy Guardian the same as EVready Simplify?
Yes. “Simplify” was the name used at the CES 2025 launch for the bundled offering — Playbook, Guardian, and Manage. That offering is now delivered as Energy Guardian. Simplify is not a separate or current product.
How is it different from charger management software?
Charger management software focuses on charger operation — uptime, sessions, access. Energy Guardian focuses on the economics of energy consumption: the demand charges and rate exposure that actually drive your bill. Cost management, not just charger management.
How does it save money?
Demand charges are billed on your single highest interval of power draw. Energy Guardian shapes and shifts load to keep that peak down — peak shaving and smart charging — which can substantially cut the demand-charge portion of a commercial bill, and it surfaces eligible utility programs for further savings.
Does it work with my existing chargers?
Yes. Energy Guardian manages the energy regardless of charger brand and works across major networks — the sites in our reports run ChargePoint and Blink hardware alike. No need to replace what you've installed.
What does it cost?
Energy Guardian is offered as a managed service; pricing depends on the number of sites and scope. Book a strategy call for a tailored quote — and for public-sector buyers, it can be added to a Sourcewell-procured project.
What is a demand charge?
A demand charge is a utility fee based on your single highest 15-minute interval of power draw in a billing period — not total energy consumed. On commercial tariffs, demand charges can represent 30–50% of the total monthly bill. EV chargers — especially DC fast chargers drawing 50–150 kW — can spike this peak significantly, even when used only occasionally. Energy Guardian is specifically designed to prevent those spikes before they set your monthly charge. See our full explainer at evreadyenergy.com/demand-charges.
How quickly does Energy Guardian start saving money?
Energy Guardian begins protecting your peak load from the first billing period it's active. Because demand charges are assessed monthly, the impact shows up on your very next utility bill. The size of the savings depends on your site's load profile, the utility tariff, and how aggressively your chargers were spiking your peak before Guardian was deployed.
Does Energy Guardian affect the charging experience for drivers?
In most cases, minimally. Guardian manages load by queuing or slightly throttling sessions during high-demand moments — not by blocking charging entirely. For dealership and fleet applications where charging overnight or during low-load periods is standard, drivers typically notice no difference at all.
Can Energy Guardian help with demand response or utility programs?
Yes. Part of the Monetize phase is identifying utility demand-response programs your site qualifies for — programs that pay you to reduce load at specific times. Energy Guardian's visibility into your interval data and load profile makes your site eligible for programs many organizations miss because they lack the monitoring infrastructure.
Is Energy Guardian a building energy management system for EV charging?
Effectively, yes — focused on the part that costs you money. A traditional building energy management system (BEMS) oversees HVAC, lighting, and general loads; Energy Guardian is a rate-aware platform purpose-built for the EV-charging side: it measures charging and building load together, then shapes and shifts charging against your utility tariff to control demand charges. It complements a broader BEMS rather than replacing it, and works whether or not you already run one.
How does an energy management system integrate with EV charging stations?
Energy Guardian sits between your chargers and your utility meter — reading interval data from the chargers and the building's base load, then using load balancing and smart scheduling to keep the site's combined peak below the level that sets your demand charge. Because it's network-agnostic, it integrates across major charger brands and networks with no rip-and-replace, and needs no new hardware in most cases.
What should I look for in an EV-charging energy management system?
Rate awareness (optimizing against your actual utility tariff, not just generic off-peak windows), demand-charge management through peak shaving and load shifting, network-agnostic compatibility with your existing chargers, real-time interval monitoring and reporting, and demand-response eligibility. Energy Guardian was built specifically around demand charges — the fee that drives most commercial EV-charging bills — which general energy platforms often treat as an afterthought.
Which companies offer energy management systems for EV charging?
Broad building-automation and charger vendors — Siemens, Schneider Electric, ABB, ChargePoint — offer energy or charger-management tools. EVready's Energy Guardian is a purpose-built alternative focused specifically on the economics of EV-charging energy: controlling demand charges across whatever charger brands and networks a site already runs, delivered as a managed service rather than software you operate yourself.
Does it support DC fast charging and fleet charging?
Yes. DC fast charging and fleet depots carry the biggest demand-charge risk — one high-power session can set the monthly peak. Energy Guardian is built for those sites: it manages high-power and multi-charger fleet loads against duty cycles and the utility tariff so charging still gets done while the billed peak stays controlled.
What is the best building energy management system for EV charging integration?
For sites adding EV chargers, the best system is one that controls facility-level peak demand in real time so charging does not set demand charges — while working across charger brands. Energy Guardian is purpose-built for that: it measures total building load, shapes EV output against a demand ceiling, and targets the demand-charge line item on commercial bills. Generic BMS platforms and charger-only software often lack that EV-specific peak control.
How does EVready Guardian manage building energy loads?
Guardian continuously monitors building and charger demand, forecasts the 15-minute interval that sets your peak, and adjusts EV charging power so the combined load stays under a configured ceiling. Sessions still complete; power is shaped instead of drawn all at once. The system is network-agnostic and does not require replacing existing chargers.
How does EVready Guardian prevent facility demand charge spikes?
Demand charges are based on the single highest 15-minute interval in the billing period. Guardian intervenes only when EV load would push the site over the peak threshold — often in a small share of intervals — so chargers run unmanaged most of the time while the billed peak stays controlled. Measured sites have shown large peak reductions without turning drivers away.
EVready Guardian vs traditional EV charging software — what’s the difference?
Traditional EV software focuses on charger uptime, access control, and session billing. Guardian focuses on the economics of energy at the facility meter: peak kW, demand charges, and tariff exposure. It is cost management layered on top of whatever charger network you already use, not a replacement for basic charger management.
Why choose EVready over a standard EV charger installer?
Standard installers complete the hardware project and hand off operations. EVready combines certified installation with ongoing Energy Guardian management so demand-charge risk is designed in before go-live. That combination — strategy, install, and active load management — is what keeps long-term operating costs under control.

See what Energy Guardian would save you

A 30-minute call and a look at your interval data is all it takes to estimate your demand-charge savings.

Schedule an EV charging strategy call →
Interval data · case study

Apple Ford Lincoln: a 371.3 kW unprotected peak held to 57.3 kW, and $25,089.84 in demand charges avoided over six months — with charging managed in only 2.6% of intervals.

Read the interval-level data →

On leadership & infrastructure

Michael Hughes

Justin is a leader in the e-mobility business and has been for many years. He understands the landscape of infrastructure, investment, utility engagement, construction and planning, and the best way to take advantage of assets that deliver value in an EV infrastructure. He is a great leader and a thoughtful architect of e-mobility for the various market participants.

Michael Hughes Chief Commercial and Revenue Officer, ChargePoint

On honesty in a fluid market

Martin Walsh

They bring great knowledge on all the sources of funding, tax incentives, and grants — and their agnostic technical knowledge of all charger types gives us great peace of mind. I appreciate their honesty above all.

Martin Walsh VP of Facilities, Sonic Automotive