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Area firm plugs into 'smart-grid' market Locust Grove company has created "smart grid" devices and software to help utilities and consumers reduce costs and conserve energy Date published: 8/22/2010
BY CATHY JETT A storm blows a tree down on a power line, and a flag pinpointing the exact spot on a map pops up on a utility's computer screen. A water heater needs a part or to be replaced, so it sends a notice to the homeowner's personalized iGoogle page. Sound like something straight out of "The Jetsons"? Guess again. Intelagrid, an 18-month-old company headquartered in Locust Grove, is providing nine utilities and two Navy bases--none of which are in Virginia--with the devices and software to do all this and more. It is one of a number of players in the emerging "smart grid" field, which uses two-way digital technology to control appliances at homes and businesses to save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability and transparency. Intelagrid's products let a utility turn off customers' hot-water heaters during a period of peak energy usage, for example. This lowers demand and helps delay the need to build another power plant or buy power from outside its normal market. "That can save millions and millions of dollars for the utility," said Costa Apostolakis, Intelagrid's 41-year-old founder and CEO. Intelagrid's system works like this. Small standards-based communications modules are embedded in electric, gas and water meters and off-the-shelf devices as light switches, thermostats and load-control relays. They transmit data to and from utilities and consumers through its ecoNet Communication Gateway devices, which can be mounted on streetlights or electric poles. The data goes into ecoOne, Intelagrid's energy management software, which displays the information in such formats as maps and charts, to allow utilities to manage, monitor and control their power grid in real time. In the event of a power outage, for example, Intelagrid's devices and software can show a utility exactly where the outage has occurred and how many customers are affected so it doesn't have to wait for customers to call or send out trucks to look for downed lines, as most do now, Apostolakis said. His firm's system also lets the utility know if a medium- or low-voltage line or even an underground line is involved, so it can send out the right crew, equipment and replacement parts.
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