PDF: 2962 pages, 5.2 MB - Bay Area Council Economic Institute

Energy/Environment/Clean Technology
term, stable payout comparable to that for investor-owned utilities. Geothermal and hydropower
also have clear potential.
An important component in transplanting pilot U.S. projects into India will be tailoring their operational
structure to the Indian market. For example, Treat says it may make sense to address
distribution issues by pairing “green” energy projects with existing power plants or locating solar
cells on mobile phone towers. Whatever the solutions growing out of Infrastructure World’s
Indian partnerships, they are likely to have interesting cross-border applications down the road.
Promoting Conservation
It is only fitting that a Bay Area firm started by two Indian entrepreneurs, Intergy
Corp., would complete the energy/environmental circle by providing simple, often ITbased
solutions for energy and water conservation and efficiency in California. In 2003,
to launch Intergy, Ashish Goel, an IIT-Bombay graduate in chemistry with a master’s degree in
environmental engineering from Clemson University, teamed with Alok Jay Bhalla, who holds a
mechanical engineering degree from Punjab Engineering College, an MBA from San Jose State
University, and a certificate in project management and financial analysis from UC Berkeley.
Intergy designs and implements energy efficiency solutions for municipalities, utilities, health
care and educational institutions, and businesses—from energy audits to program design to
benchmark measurement—and also develops IT, outsourcing, and web-based solutions in support
of those programs. To the extent that water conservation and management principles are
similar to—and at times dovetail with—energy conservation and management, Intergy works in
comparable ways with California water utilities and users.
The company has developed niche expertise and exploited market opportunities that lie in the
interface among utilities, regulators, and consumers. New technologies enable utilities to more
precisely monitor and forecast usage patterns and to adjust supplies automatically. Business and
institutional customers have growing options to produce their own power through cogeneration
or renewable sources; power their own facilities more efficiently; and, in some cases, sell surplus
power back to the grid. Among Intergy’s projects:
• energy-saving retrofits of lighting, ventilation, refrigerators and appliances at more than
2,200 California preschools;
• “Home Green Kiosks” set up at local banks, home and garden centers, and other locations
to offer energy-saving advice to homeowners applying for home equity credit lines or
planning to remodel;
• utility-supported programs in Southern California that reward homebuilders and
property management companies for installing energy-efficient lighting and air
conditioning systems;
• a program to replace commercial washing machines in laundries, hotels, hospitals, and
other businesses and institutions, to save energy and reduce water use;
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