An Ignoble Experiment

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Utilities that are implementing demand side management programs are seeing the results, according to E Source's third annual DSM Achievements and Expenditures report. Of the 52 participating utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) achieved the greatest 2012 energy savings, followed closely by Southern California Edison and Commonwealth Edison, respectively.

Among these three utilities, savings were almost evenly divided between residential and nonresidential sectors. Interestingly, the "other" category -- which could include savings from strategies such as outreach and education or codes and standards -- had a significant impact on the utilities with the biggest savings, according to E Source.

The majority of savings for electric utilities came from the nonresidential sector, but gas utilities spent the most money on residential customers. In contrast to their electric counterparts, gas utilities spent almost the same amount on DSM in 2012 as they did in 2011. Low natural gas prices, coupled with unusually warm weather patterns, required higher incentives to engage customers in energy-efficiency programs.

Though average DSM electric expenditures dropped significantly from 2011 to 2012, average energy savings as a percentage of total (bundled plus delivery-only) retail sales remained flat.

"Because of increased regulatory pressure for utilities to do more with less, this is no surprise," said Julie Herman, product manager for E Source Efficiency Services. "That the majority of annual kilowatt-hour savings goals were met while staying within budget is quite an achievement for the utilities, and it demonstrates their ability to be creative and mine their existing programs for greater overall savings."

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2. Duke Energy catching up on energy-efficiency investments

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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3. Utilities challenged by incident command

Duke Energy has received approval from the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) for a new energy-efficiency incentive mechanism.

The incentive uses a shared-savings model, which allows customers to share in the money saved by reducing energy waste. Duke Energy customers will share in these financial gains with the utility. This new reward-based program will build upon Duke Energy's energy-efficiency successes over the past four years, and will put the company in a position to grow its energy-efficiency performance and set a strong example as a leader in energy savings in the Southeast.

"Rewarding good behavior is the best way to encourage a company like Duke Energy to dig in and invest in energy savings programs that cut waste [and] save money…," said Kelly Martin, senior campaign representative with Sierra Club in North Carolina.

Duke Energy and the NCUC previously used the Save-A-Watt program to reward the utility for investing in energy-efficiency programs. Under this program, Duke Energy achieved savings of 0.65 percent of all retail sales in North Carolina. Leaders in energy efficiency across the nation are achieving more than 2 percent savings; more than 14 states are saving at least 1 percent of retail sales a year. Through this new incentive, Duke Energy will receive additional incentives for meeting a more aggressive goal of 1 percent energy savings.

"Duke Energy may be the nation's largest utility, but it has lagged far behind the nation's leaders in energy savings investments," said Natalie Mims, Energy Efficiency Director for Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "The new financial incentive re-confirms North Carolina's support for energy efficiency, and provides an opportunity for Duke Energy to make the Carolinas the most efficient states in the Southeast."

For more:
- see the Order
- see this report

Read more about: reward-based energy efficiency
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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4. DOE finds super-efficient rooftop technology

Following Superstorm Sandy, more states have mandated the use of incident command systems (ICS) while throughout the industry more utilities are adopting ICS. Despite this progress, many utilities never use ICS or only use it sporadically, according to research from Macrosoft. Further, those companies utilizing ICS have undertaken an "ad hoc" or "homegrown" approach.

Credit: Buddpaul/Wikimedia Commons

According to Macrosoft survey results, 95 percent of utility executives see ICS as "important" or "very important" for effective emergency response. Annually, 50 percent of companies train on ICS, about 10 percent train quarterly. A stunning 56 percent of respondents indicated their companies have no software application supporting their ICS process.

Increasingly severe weather and a greater number of weather incidents is driving incident command and control, but ICS is not without obstacles. The development of an industry-standard would help automate best practices throughout the industry.

According to utility respondents, the most significant challenges to adoption and successful implementation of ICS include:

Moving quickly from day-to-day operations to ICS operations.
Training an already busy workforce on a second set of responsibilities.
Ensuring that traditional reporting structures do not trump ICS roles.
Modifying forms and processes to fit the needs of the industry.
Communicating effectively in full loops between the home office and field operations.

Besides storm response, effective ICS is critical to other situations in which utilities must respond, such as fire, tornados, earthquakes, workplace violence, terrorist attacks, pandemics, etc. An ICS framework expands and contracts based on the incident and enables utilities to improve communications with first responders.

For more:
- see this report

Read more about: incident command systems, Macrosoft
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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5. EPA database reveals strategies for successful GHG reductions

New super-efficient rooftop units that heat and cool commercial buildings offer significant energy and dollar savings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) -- reducing energy costs an average of 41 percent compared to units in operation today.

Credit: P199/Wikimedia Commons

New PNNL research analyzes the operation of a commercial rooftop HVAC unit (Daikin) which competed in DOE's Rooftop Challenge, part of a broader DOE program known as the DOE Rooftop Campaign to promote the adoption of efficient rooftop units.

The PNNL research estimates that if current rooftop units were replaced with devices similar to the challenge winner over a 10-year period, the benefits in terms of energy saved and reduced pollution would be about equal to taking 700,000 cars off the road each year and idle about eight average-size coal-fired power plants every year. Further, if all rooftop units with a cooling capacity of 10 to 20 tons were replaced immediately, DOE officials estimate the cost savings at around $1 billion annually.

The PNNL team ran simulations for a typical 75,000-square-foot big-box store in three cities: Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, comparing the performance of the challenge winner to three types of units: those in use today, those that meet current federal regulations for new units, and those that meet more stringent ASHRAE 90.1-2010 standards.

Compared to units in operation today that are ready for replacement, energy costs of the challenge winning unit were 33 percent less in Chicago, 44 percent less in Houston, and 45 percent less in Los Angeles and slashed energy demand by 15 percent, 37 percent, and 36 percent, respectively.

Compared to new units that meet current federal regulations, costs were cut 29 percent, 37 percent, and 40 percent, in Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, respectively. Energy demand was reduced 12 percent, 30 percent, and 32 percent in those three cities.

As expected, savings were a bit less when compared with new units that meet today's strictest ASHRAE standards. Costs to run the winning system were 15 percent lower in Chicago, 27 percent lower in Houston, and 18 percent lower in Los Angeles. Energy demand was 8 percent, 23 percent, and 15 percent lower, respectively.

For more:
- see this report

Read more about: Rooftop Campaign, ASHRAE
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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