Squid Wants to Replace Every Spreadsheet That Runs the Power Grid

The Macro: The Grid Is the Most Important Machine Nobody Is Updating

The electricity grid is arguably the most critical infrastructure on Earth. Everything depends on it. And the teams responsible for planning and operating it are working with tools that belong in a museum.

I am not exaggerating. Grid planners at utility companies still use spreadsheets, decades-old simulation software, and disconnected modeling tools to plan how electricity flows across networks serving millions of people. When a new solar farm needs to connect to the grid, or a neighborhood needs upgraded capacity, or extreme weather threatens the system, the planning process involves manual data entry, siloed models, and assumptions that live in someone’s head.

The disconnect between the importance of the grid and the quality of tools used to manage it is staggering. Electrification is accelerating. Electric vehicles, heat pumps, data centers, and renewable energy sources are all adding complexity to a system that was designed for one-way power flow from centralized plants to consumers. The grid needs to evolve fast, and the planning tools need to evolve even faster.

Squid, backed by Y Combinator, is building a browser-based workspace that gives grid planners a modern, AI-powered tool for modeling and analyzing electrical networks. The thesis is simple: better decisions come from one unified, trusted network model.

The Micro: One Model to Run the Grid

Squid is a browser-native workspace for electricity grid planning. No desktop installation required. Planners can model real networks, run stress tests, and simulate policy scenarios from their browser. AI agents assist with analysis and planning decisions.

The product already has National Grid and Octopus Energy as customers, which is significant validation. These are not small companies experimenting with a new tool. They are major energy players trusting Squid with real grid planning work.

The founding team comes directly from the industry. Conor Jones previously worked at Octopus Energy, BCG, and National Grid. George Kolokotronis was Head of Tech at Octopus Energy and worked at AWS before that. They understand both the energy domain and the technology required to build modern software for it.

The competitive space includes legacy tools like PSS/E from Siemens, CYME, and PowerWorld, which dominate grid simulation. These tools are powerful but old, expensive, and difficult to use. They require desktop installations, specialized training, and often run on outdated operating systems. Newer entrants like Opus One Solutions and GridBeyond focus on specific aspects of grid management, but none offer the unified browser-based planning workspace that Squid is building.

Squid holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, which matters enormously in the utility sector. Energy companies will not touch a tool that cannot demonstrate enterprise-grade security and compliance. Having these certifications early suggests the team understands what it takes to sell to utilities.

The product is currently listed as free with “coming soon” expanded availability, which suggests they are in the early stages of go-to-market. The key question is pricing. Grid planning software from incumbents costs hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Squid could undercut dramatically while offering a better user experience.

The Verdict

Squid is targeting a massive market with terrible incumbent tooling. That combination usually produces big outcomes if the product is good enough.

At 30 days: how many grid planners are actively using the workspace for real planning scenarios, not just demos? Usage depth matters more than user count in enterprise infrastructure software.

At 60 days: are planners using Squid as their primary modeling tool, or as a supplement alongside legacy systems? Replacing the incumbent is the goal. Supplementing it is a stepping stone but not the endgame.

At 90 days: has Squid enabled any grid decisions that would not have been possible with legacy tools? The real value is not just doing the same work faster. It is enabling analysis that was previously too complex or time-consuming to attempt.

I think Squid has one of the best market positions I have seen in climate tech. The grid must be modernized. The tools must be modernized. And the team comes from inside the industry. That combination of urgency, expertise, and technical ambition is hard to find.