Korean firm buys company connected to PUD ethics violations in 2015

EVERETT — The company that sparked ethics investigations by the state and at the Snohomish County Public Utilities District has been bought by a Korean firm. The Seattle-based 1Energy Systems announced the sale to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction on Monday. The price of the sale, which closed June 30, has not been disclosed.

1Energy Systems will continue making control software for industrial-sized energy-storage systems and remain in Seattle, the company said in a statement.

The start-up’s 25 employees, including its owners, will stay on. 1Energy, though, will be renamed Doosan GridTech. The acquisition expands Doosan’s stake in the energy management market.

“1Energy’s software platform will form the foundation” of products that could be sold around the world, the start-up said.

The company got its start with the Snohomish County PUD, where 1Energy founder Dave Kaplan worked from 2010 to 2011. He helped set up the district’s ambitious clean-energy strategy. A key component was developing new energy storage systems, a new technology meant to better harness renewable energy sources and manage rising demand.

Kaplan left the PUD after negotiating a no-bid contract on behalf of 1Energy to lead the research and development effort. Since then, the district has awarded several follow-on contracts. It expects to spend about $23.5 million developing the technology. The PUD is using state grants from the Department of Commerce to help pay for the work.

That close relationship prompted a whistleblower complaint in 2015. The PUD hired a Seattle-based attorney to conduct an investigation. The attorney found that the PUD and Kaplan had broken the utility’s ethics policies by not avoiding the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Later in 2015, the state investigated allegations of ethics violations based on the connections of 1Energy employees to the state Department of Commerce. The investigation cleared Kaplan, Rogers Weed and Danial Malarkey after finding no basis for the charges.

Monday’s announcement “should have no impact on our work with 1Energy going forward,” PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos said.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

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