The Invisible Infrastructure Supporting Scale’s Growth
Faced with an overburdened Excel model and high internal friction, Scale Microgrids partnered with Bellawatt to reimagine its project development workflow. Together, we:
Translated a fragile Excel-based pricing tool into a scalable, web-based platform
Increased modeling speed by 10x and reduced rework across teams
Built a dynamic utility rate CMS, integrated with REopt and Hubspot
Created role-specific access for admins, sales reps, and channel partners
Achieved an 87% preference rate for the new tool among project origination users
Delivered a modern, auditable system that became core infrastructure for Scale’s growth
It started with a question that loomed large for Scale Microgrids' leadership: Can we justify spinning up a whole team before knowing if this will even work? For years, Scale had been pushing the frontier of distributed energy, designing and deploying complex microgrids that integrated solar, battery storage, and generators into cohesive, resilient systems. But behind the scenes, their internal pricing engine was struggling to keep up.
They had a powerful – but fragile – Excel model that calculated the cost and feasibility of microgrid projects with impressive detail. It worked, but at a steep cost: constant crashes, version control confusion, and a growing burden on a handful of experts who could actually operate it. Admins were spending upwards of 30 hours a week managing the tool. Business development reps needed technical assistance to run even basic scenarios. The system wasn't just a bottleneck – it was a risk.
Jumping straight to hiring for an unproven solution felt like too much, too soon. "Working with Bellawatt let us retire risk early," recalls Duncan Campbell, VP of Project Analysis.
Scale wasn’t looking for a traditional software vendor. They needed a partner who understood both the energy space and the specialized logic behind microgrid design. For Duncan, that context was everything.
“A generalist presents risk. Bellawatt slotted in as team members,” he explained. “They didn’t feel like outside consultants. We didn’t have to explain what a load profile was. They just got it.”
Bellawatt’s energy fluency meant they could move fast. “You’re not going to have to do months of context discovery because they already know,” Duncan noted. “They get up to speed very quickly and will know the words your team uses and the things you’re referring to. They’ll jump in and work. Friendly, fun, easy to work with – all that helps, too!”
Instead of spending weeks or months ramping up, we got to work translating the Excel-based Model into a stable, scalable web application that offered the same analytical power – but with a modern interface, built-in auditability, and the flexibility to grow.
The Bellawatt team began with a series of structured interviews across Scale’s internal roles – project analysts, sales reps, and channel partners – to understand every point of friction. Our goal wasn’t just to digitize the Model, but to reimagine how it could serve the full spectrum of Scale’s users.
Admins needed stability and speed. Internal business development reps needed to visualize scenarios and share polished proposals. Channel partners needed an intuitive way to engage with Scale’s pricing logic without exposing sensitive financial details. Everyone needed the system to feel more trustworthy, transparent, and navigable.
The result was a Python-powered pricing portal with multiple user roles, robust financial modeling, in-app error alerts, and integration with REopt (NREL’s optimization tool) and Hubspot. We preserved what worked in the original Model but restructured it to be faster, clearer, and easier to maintain.
One of the key innovations was the utility rate CMS, which allowed users to create and edit utility rates across dozens of service territories and instantly apply them to new projects, eliminating the need to manually rebuild inputs from scratch.
The portal also featured in-app alerts and messaging, which surfaced feasibility errors and guided users to resolution without the guesswork, helping to build trust and reduce onboarding time.
Under the hood, we implemented a robust testing suite to catch even the smallest inconsistencies. Given the financial implications of microgrid projects, this gave Scale’s team the confidence that every scenario they ran would produce accurate, auditable results. The collaboration went beyond scope and sprints. Bellawatt embedded deeply in Scale’s workflows – joining Slack, iterating in real time, and bringing an unusually collaborative spirit to the project.
Testimonial
Sometimes external consultants can feel transactional in a way that gets in the way of actually getting things done. With Bellawatt, it felt like being in the lab with our R&D team.
Duncan R @ Scale Microgrids
What started as a prototype quickly became indispensable. The new Project Development Portal became the single source of truth for project modeling across teams. Sales reps could generate detailed proposals with confidence. Admins could run multiple scenarios without losing work. And leadership had a more transparent, auditable system to rely on.
"We laid a good foundation through our work with Bellawatt," Duncan said. "Since then, we’ve massively expanded the product. My team is way more productive. Everything’s in one place and connected. There’s a lot less cognitive load."
Much of that clarity and ease came from the portal’s Modern UX – a clean, intuitive design that turned complex modeling into a process that felt seamless and approachable. Leveraging modern design principles, Bellawatt reduced the cognitive load across user types and made the tool delightful to use.
Bellawatt’s role in getting the product off the ground proved critical. Without their involvement, Duncan believes the project might never have happened. “We would have had to build the case for this investment much more substantially. A slower process, more arguments, more uncertainty. Bellawatt made it easy to say yes. They helped us de-risk a big decision."
The speed and precision of the partnership also gave Scale a unique advantage. Unlike typical utility software projects, Scale needed a flexible foundation – something extensible, constantly evolving, and deeply integrated with its sales motion. Bellawatt delivered.
The impact of this engagement fundamentally changed how Scale operated. What had once been a source of internal drag was now a catalyst for clarity, speed, and scale (no pun intended). Scale saw:
A tenfold increase in modeling speed
An 87% preference rate among project origination users for the new tool
A marked reduction in rework and technical handholding between teams
But perhaps the biggest transformation was cultural. The portal became more than a tool; it became infrastructure. A shared space where teams could build, test, and communicate. A launchpad for future features. A reason to believe in the process.
Duncan put it simply: "Had we not started with Bellawatt, we may not have started at all."
Today, the portal continues to evolve. Scale’s internal team has layered in new features, expanded its user base, and integrated the system more deeply into its sales and project development workflows. What began as a “dip-your-toe-in” prototype is now one of the company’s most important internal products.
While Bellawatt has stepped back from day-to-day involvement, our influence is still felt in the architecture, the ethos, and the user experience. Through our software,Scale was able to transform how it sells, collaborates, and grows. That early foundation enabled Scale to take full ownership of the product’s next chapter, growing it into a platform that continues to evolve alongside the company’s ambitions.
If your internal tools are slowing you down, let’s talk about what’s possible.
