AGent Energy, a startup that integrates backup generators into the grid during emergencies, raised $11 million in seed funding co-led by Spero Ventures and MassMutual Ventures.Why it matters: Power demand is rising quickly, straining grids and helping drive up electricity bills.But building new power plants is often slow and expensive.AGent sees a big market in harnessing backup generators that sit mostly idle at farms, hospitals, factories, big box stores, universities and beyond.How it works: The year-old startup provides hardware and software that remotely turns on backup generators when grids face emergencies.This displaces electricity demand at those sites, freeing up more power for the rest of the grid.Backup generators don't erase the need for new power plants, but could provide substantial breathing room."This is the fastest and most capital-efficient way to add new capacity to the grid," co-founder and CEO Stephanie Hendricks said, calling it a "massive underutilized resource."AGent works with grid operators and utilities to provide this additional capacity, and shares the revenue with the owners of the generators. Aggregating these resources creates "rapidly dispatchable, highly reliable distributed power plants," the company said.Its system can work with diesel and gas-powered backup generators and batteries. Zoom in: The Houston-based company has now raised $17 million in a year.Intrepid Investment Management and existing investors CIV and Zero Infinity Partners (ZIP) joined the new round. CIV and ZIP provided $6 million last year.The firm already operates in three markets, Hendricks said — Texas (ERCOT), the Midcontinent Independent System Operator region, and PJM.Its current portfolio is equivalent to the size of a small power plant, she said. Zoom out: AGent is one of multiple companies making use of distributed resources like solar and batteries to aid grids.The company argues that tapping backup generation "delivers capacity at the lowest cost of any new grid resource." "One of our areas of expertise is understanding the energy markets and where there are opportunities to monetize," Hendricks said."We're creating technology that connects the assets, but also adds a layer of value through monitoring and managing it," she said.What they're saying: The Trump administration likes the idea of making better use of existing assets."Leveraging backup generation as a last resort to mitigate power outages saves lives and reduces costs for American families," Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly said in a statement. The Energy Department estimates that over 35 gigawatts of backup generation are available to respond to emergencies, and AGent's estimate is substantially higher. One gigawatt can power roughly 750,000 homes. The bottom line: "Stephanie and her team have moved faster than any company we've seen in this space," Spero Ventures principal Stephen Wemple said in a statement. "The grid doesn't need to wait five years for new steel in the ground. The capacity is already there, and AGent has built the intelligence layer to unlock it."