82 TIME April 11/April 18, 2022
PIONEERSGREEN MOUNTAIN POWER
KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON
The future of energy resilience is now on dis-
play in Panton, Vt., where local utility Green
Mountain Power last summer activated an
innovative renewable- powered “microgrid”
designed to keep the town’s lights on even
if power is cut off from the company’s main
network by, say, a falling tree’s knocking
down a power line. Other utilities around the
country in states like California are pursuing
similar projects as they brace for worsening
storms, wildres, and other climate threats.
The goal, says Green Mountain Power head
of innovation Josh Castonguay, is to
develop systems to help make communities
more resilient; the company is also working
with residents to install backup home bat-
teries to ensure a steady supply of power.
—Alejandro de la GarzaOPENSEA
FUELING THE NFT FRENZY
With over $14 billion in transactions in
2021—646 times the previous year’s
total—OpenSea has cemented its status
as the world’s most popular marketplace
for non fungible tokens (NFTs), the
blockchain-based technology that makes
it possible to claim ownership over
digital art, data, and more. “Beyond art
and creative work, the use cases for
NFTs are expanding to event ticketing,
gaming, music, and fashion,” says
CEO and co-founder Devin Finzer. “It’s
possible that one day, nearly everything
we own will be accounted for on the
blockchain.” OpenSea’s meteoric rise—
it now has more than 1 million users—
hasn’t been entirely smooth; it’s working,
for instance, to clamp down on people
selling other artists’ intellectual property.
—Jared LindzonBICYCLE HEALTH
DEMOCRATIZING
RECOVERY
More than 78,000 Americans died of
opioid overdoses last year, while more
than 40% of U.S. counties lack a single
opioid use disorder (OUD) practitioner.
Bicycle Health, which delivers OUD
treatment via telemedicine, attempts to
ll that void virtually. It offers medication
management, support groups, at-home
drug testing, and more for $199 per
month. Bicycle’s revenue grew 600%
year-over-year in 2021, and is nearing
$10 million; the company has treated
14,000 patients since early 2019.
‘I will never —Leslie Dickstein
underestimate
audiences
again.’