As 2025 comes to a close, it is incredible to look back on just how far we have come. What began fifteen years ago as a small idea shared by two developers has grown into a 70+ person team shaping the future of energy, software, and digital transformation. This year marked some of our most meaningful milestones yet: industry-defining work, breakthrough research, product innovation, and a celebration of the people who make Simple Thread what it is.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the achievements that defined 2025.
A Milestone Year:
Celebrating 15 Years of Simple Thread
This year, our entire team gathered in Richmond to celebrate an incredible milestone. Simple Thread turned 15.
What started with Justin and Al’s simple goal of building great software and building a great place to work has grown into a thriving community of engineers, designers, and energy technologists working on some of the most exciting and important challenges in our industry.
We celebrated our teammates, who bring their best every day.
We celebrated our families and friends, who support us through every late-night deploy.
We celebrated our clients and partners, who trust us with their boldest ideas.
We also honored our founders with a custom poster recognizing the countless ways their leadership has shaped our culture. Fifteen years in, and we are just getting started.
A Breakout Year for Our Energy Practice
What began as a formalized energy practice just a few years ago has now matured into one of the most dynamic parts of our business. In 2025, we continued expanding our Energy Tech team, including the addition of a distribution-focused electrical engineer who immediately helped elevate our technical expertise, client presentations, and thought leadership.
Across hosting capacity, grid modernization, and data-driven planning tools, our team delivered solutions that are already changing how utilities work. And we are only gaining momentum.
Minerva Interconnect:
From Vision to Industry Recognition
This year marked major progress in bringing Minerva Interconnect from concept to reality. Minerva earned industry recognition, becoming a finalist for the RVA Tech Product Innovation Award and appearing in high-level discussions about interconnection reform, automation, and grid planning.
With an expanded demo planned for 2026 and increasing interest across utilities and developers, Minerva is positioned to play a meaningful role in solving some of the toughest challenges in energy.
Energy Tech 2025:
A Conference With Momentum
We hosted our second annual Energy Tech Virginia conference, and it was bigger and more influential than ever. This year’s event brought together leaders from utilities, policy, academia, and the private sector to discuss the future of energy technology, ranging from transmission planning to interconnection automation.
The energy in the room was incredible, and we are already gearing up for Energy Tech 2026.
Registration is now open at energytechva.com
Thought Leadership Across the Globe
Our team’s expertise was recognized across the industry this year, with presentations, publications, and panel appearances at major energy events.
Inalvis Alvarez Fernandez, Ph.D.
- Featured on Wood Mackenzie’s Interchange Recharged podcast discussing policy, technology, and interconnection backlogs
- Presented her coauthored CIGRE paper, A Graph-Based Methodology Integrating Spatial and Electrical Data, which bridges GIS and power system modeling for smarter grid planning
Hadi Athari, Director of Energy Technology
- Featured panelist at RE+ 2025 discussing how automation and data pipelines are transforming grid integration
- Presented a probabilistic framework for interconnection cost assessment at the IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies conference
Nick Agliano, Senior Software Engineer
- Presented at Distributech 2025 on how advanced hosting capacity platforms reduce analysis time from weeks to minutes
Justin Etheredge, CEO
- Spoke at T&D World Live about Dominion Energy’s groundbreaking transmission-level hosting capacity platform
Project Highlights: From Weeks to Minutes
This year, our work in Hosting Capacity Analysis continued to gain national attention. Our dynamic transmission-level tool for Dominion Energy was showcased across conferences for its ability to:
- Model capacity in real time
- Display interactive heatmaps
- Run rapid scenario analysis
- Accelerate planning without costly upgrades
Utilities need faster and smarter ways to prepare for DER growth. Tools like these are making that possible.
Award-Winning Innovation
2025 brought recognition from respected organizations in both technology and energy.
Digitizing Utilities Round 2 Winner
We were proud to win the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Digitizing Utilities Prize for advancing digital tools that transform grid analytics, integrate diverse datasets, and help utilities plan for a rapidly changing energy landscape.
Inc. 5000
We ranked No. 2,308 among America’s fastest-growing private companies, a reflection of our team’s talent and the trust our clients place in us.
RVA 25
We were once again recognized as one of Richmond’s fastest-growing companies.
These achievements represent the impact of meaningful, high-quality work that delivers real value.
Giving Back and Engaging With the Community
This year, Simple Thread supported important causes, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where Justin and the team fundraised in memory of Joshua Hazzard. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this meaningful effort.
Our team also engaged with industry groups such as the ESIG Large Load Task Force, examining how data centers and AI-driven loads are reshaping grid requirements and planning.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we wrap up 2025, we are filled with gratitude for our team, our clients, and our community. The past year was full of growth, breakthroughs, and meaningful work. We are even more excited about what comes next.
In 2026, we look forward to:
- Continued development of Minerva Interconnect
- Expanded EnergyTech VA programming and a bigger Energy Tech 2026 conference
- New case studies, thought leadership, and research publications
- Scaling our energy practice with new talent and partners
- Building tools that help shape a cleaner, smarter, more resilient grid
Thank you for being part of our journey. Here is to the next chapter of building, learning, and leading together.
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