Spotlight on DR Richardson, founder of Elephant Energy
Empowering Homeowners to Electrify
Home electrification is key to a sustainable future, but making the switch can feel daunting. DR Richardson, co-founder of Elephant Energy, shares how his team is breaking down barriers, accelerating adoption, and leveraging Colorado’s unique opportunities to electrify homes and fight climate change.
Interview conducted by Hannah Davis and has been edited for length and clarity.
What is Elephant Energy?
DR Richardson: Elephant Energy is the easiest way to electrify your home. We've built a platform that works directly with homeowners to be your one-stop shop for replacing fossil fuel-burning appliances with all-electric ones. We install heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, EV chargers, insulation, and weatherization services. We streamline everything by working closely with a network of vetted, local contractors who are experts in these technologies. We also use our own technology to maximize rebates and handle financing to make electrification more accessible and affordable for everyone.
Why did you start Elephant Energy?
DR Richardson: Josh Lake, a good friend of mine, and I started Elephant Energy about three years ago. We’ve both been in climate tech since 2010, and we wanted to tackle something big. Building decarbonization is one of the four major levers we need to urgently pull to combat climate change, but it’s the furthest behind.
Countries like Norway use heat pumps to heat 60 - 70% of indoor space. We know this works in cold climates, yet in Colorado, it’s only 1% of home heating. Why is that?
We thought it couldn't be that hard. Let's deploy a heat pump at my house.
In doing that, we realized just how broken the customer journey was when trying to electrify a home. Everything from understanding what a heat pump is to selecting the right equipment, finding contractors, navigating rebates, and ensuring proper installation was a mess. We saw an opportunity to solve this problem and make the deployment of existing technology, like heat pumps, much easier and faster.
We're not technologists in the sense that we're not trying to create new technology; we want to be amazing deployers of existing technology.
What’s your background?
DR Richardson: I spent about ten years in private equity investing in the energy transition.
Ever since college, I have wanted to dedicate my career to something bigger than myself. After college, I knew I wanted to work in climate tech somehow, but I had no idea how to do that, so I ended up doing strategy consulting for a couple of years.
I worked with my now co-founder Josh, right out of college. When he left and started a solar development company in 2009 it inspired me to make a change.
About six months later, I left consulting and found an early-stage climate tech company in Boulder and moved here. I was the first employee there and helped start it up, and that’s where I spent a decade investing in EV charging, battery storage, solar, and all these really fascinating platforms right at the center of the energy transition.
After doing that for about 10 years, I realized that the next thing I wanted to do was build something myself and that's when Elephant was born.
How has being founded and headquartered in Colorado impacted you and your company?
DR Richardson: I moved to Colorado in 2010 and fell in love with the sunshine, skiing, and hiking. Starting a company in Colorado was partly about choosing a place where I wanted to live and build meaningful relationships. And, Post-COVID, it's become even more important to create a meaningful workplace where employees can connect in person. We want to provide meaningful relationships, meaningful work, and meaningful impact for the people who work at Elephant. And for me, it’s hard to create that remotely.
Colorado is also a critical market for us because heat pumps are vastly underused here despite the technology's proven use in cold climates. We need to radically accelerate that transition here. We see Colorado as the perfect place to demonstrate that electrification can be accelerated in cold climates and then expand that model to other regions.
What climate solutions are you most excited about right now and why?
DR Richardson: Besides heat pumps, which are obviously a big focus for us, I’m excited about the fact that we already have most of the technology we need to make a massive impact on carbon emissions. Electric technology is simply better than burning fossil fuels. It’s more efficient, provides better indoor air quality, and offers a superior user experience. I’m particularly excited about the advancements in heat pumps for multifamily buildings, like the new window units from companies like Gradient and Midea. These could be game-changers for electrifying smaller spaces.
What are some of the biggest challenges in your climate action efforts, and how can the community help?
DR Richardson: The biggest challenge is education and awareness. In Colorado, furnaces outsell heat pumps 200 to 1, not because people prefer furnaces, but because they don’t know about heat pumps. The best thing homeowners can do is spread the word—talk to your neighbors about replacing old furnaces and water heaters with electric options. Educating others and planning ahead for these big purchases can make a huge difference.
The single biggest driver of whether someone is going to get a heat pump is not their economic bracket, their level of education, their voting patterns, what sector they work in, etc. It’s: “does someone else on their block have a heat pump”. We can accelerate the pace of electrification by helping tell those stories of who on your block has a heat pump.
What climate or sustainability-related activities do you do outside of work that you’re passionate about?
DR Richardson: I really enjoy being part of the local community here in Boulder, like co-hosting the Boulder Climate Happy Hour. I also mentor through Terra.do, helping people transition their careers into climate. I’ve been in climate tech for a long time, so I have some strong opinions on what’s impactful, and I enjoy sharing that with others. On a personal level, I try to eat vegetarian whenever I can—it’s one small way to make a difference.
Is there anything else you want to share?
DR Richardson: Climate change can feel overwhelming, but we need to focus on making it easy for people to take meaningful action. It’s important not to let perfect be the enemy of good. Whether it’s eating less meat, flying less, or switching to an electric vehicle or heat pump, we should encourage people to start where they can make the biggest impact and build from there. For example, it’s okay if you don’t drive an EV today, but make sure the next car you buy is an EV. When you replace your furnace, make sure it’s a heat pump. We know what makes a big difference - diet, flying, car, home - and we should all focus there. You may not be able to make an impact on all of them, but pick one that works for you and start there.
Learn more about Elephant Energy and how they can help you electrify your home. Check out their careers page and follow Elephant Energy on Linkedin.