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Costa Apostolakis co-founded Intelagrid 18 months ago in a tiny office in Locust Grove. |
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.
Consumers in a participating utility's coverage area can monitor and manage their electric, gas and water usage through the intelaHome Web portal, which can display information on ecoStat thermostats, customizable iGoogle pages and smartphones.
The program shows how much energy their appliances are using, lets them compare their usage to similar homes in their area and can notify them when a device's usage, such as that of an aging water heater, isn't normal so they can repair or replace it.
"Statistically, 35 percent of customers have at least one inefficient appliance that can have a dramatic impact on their energy bill," said Apostolakis.
The Fairfax native is the former owner of Ace Communications, a broadband Satellite service provider in Manassas and Harrisburg, Pa. He said he became aware of the need for the services Intelagrid provides while working for MainNet Communications Ltd. to provide Manassas with broadband over its electric lines.
"What I realized is that utilities didn't really know what was going on with the electricity grid," Apostolakis said. "During that time I'd hear the electricity guys say, 'It would be great if we had this.' It made a lot of sense to build these products."
Apostolakis, who was MainNet's chief operations officer at the time, drew up a business plan in 2008 to create many of the things that were on those wish lists, including intelaMeters for electricity and water usage and an ecoSwitch for load-control relays, which allows remote control of such high-energy usage devices as water heaters.
The following February he quit his job at MainNet to launch Intelagrid with Haim Shaul, the company's chief marketing officer, in a 10-by-10 office in Locust Grove.
"Our initial business model was to have one utility in the first year," Apostolakis said. "We're currently working with seven electrical utilities in the United States and two outside the U.S. and two Navy bases. It's forced us to grow very, very rapidly."
Intelagrid now has 15 employees who work out of a much bigger main office in Locust Grove and another in Charlotte, N.C. It plans to expand its software development and sales teams as well as strengthen its customer support capabilities with $1 million in private equity financing it raised in June from a group of Richmond investors.
A Virginia utility has expressed interest in Intelagrid's products, and Apostolakis foresees an increased demand for Intelagrid's products thanks to such things as the Obama administration's push to improve the power grid, the electric cars that will begin arriving at dealerships this fall and the rising popularity of homeowners generating their own power and selling some back to the grid.
"We want to continue doing what we do best, which is providing reliable smart grid infrastructure," he said. "We'll do well."
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com
