An Almonte startup less than a year old came out of whisper mode Tuesday with an electricity monitoring product meant to help businesses cut their power bill.
Triacta Power Technologies Inc., incorporated last June, officially launched this week following a successful trial of its technology with the Ottawa River Power Corporation (ORPC).
ORPC supplies power to the Almonte area and Triacta's technology has been tested in area restaurants, arenas and rental properties.
Company founder and CEO Rob Brennan touts the technology behind the electricity monitor as simple. He believes the product is long overdue considering the province's plan to penalize big consumers of electricity with higher rates.
For small business and light industry, power is often one of the top five expenditures, yet business owners have no way to track their power usage or determine the most efficient means by which they can conserve power.
Triacta claims commercial trials of the monitor yielded energy savings of 10 to 30 per cent. The company added that its technology was also able to alert trial customers to mechanical problems before equipment failures occurred by sensing changes in power consumption patterns.
"These initial results are very positive," Murray Moore, president of ORPC, said in a statement. "As power costs rise, our customers need increased control over their energy use. Triacta's product is a win for our business customers and for Ottawa River Power."
Triacta's monitor device is connected to the customer's breaker panel where it detects and tracts power usage. A computerized report is then generated that identifies power wastage.
Triacta said an extra feature will be added in June that will allow the monitor to control the customer's power system and cut power to lights or equipment when they are not needed.
Triacta's product will be sold through local utility companies.
Triacta has been funded by its founders and by angel investors. Brennan is an engineer and former executive of the old Mitel Systems, Nortel Networks and Marconi.
Another tech veteran with the company is VP of engineering and operations Wes Biggs, founder and former CEO of Meriton Networks.
The company has 10 staff in all.
