Energy Trends Archives - Page 5 of 7

5 Trends to Watch for Electric Utilities in 2021

The new year is here — and that means new trends for electric utilities to watch in the months ahead. It’s important to stay ahead of these innovations so your energy utility stand out as a trusted resource to customers. To help start the new year right, here are five energy trends for electricity consumption and end-use electric equipment for 2021 and beyond.

1. Electricity Consumption

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts electricity generation from renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, will rise from 17% in 2019 to 22% in 2021. The EIA also forecasts that total U.S. electricity consumed in 2021 will be similar to 2020 consumption. Further, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast of fewer cooling degree days in 2021 will offset an increased demand for space heating.

2. Beneficial Electrification

U.S. renewable energy consumption recently surpassed coal for the first time in over 130 years. Replacing direct fossil fuel use (propane, heating oil, gasoline) with electricity is saving customers money while benefiting the environment. For example, even as beneficial electrification has become more popular, carbon dioxide emissions per MWh from electric power generation has decreased 28% from 2005 to 2018.

Beneficial electrification applications in transportation, space heating, cooking and water heating is improving consumer quality of life and increasing grid resilience. Comparatively, propane and heating oil are twice as expensive as a fuel for space and water heating. Electric vehicles are also saving consumers about $1,000 per year on fuel costs while offering lower maintenance costs, decreased emissions and better acceleration.

3. Lighting Functionality

Fixture efficacy in the range of 200 lumens per watt is becoming more common. With energy efficiency of LED lighting reaching a plateau, the relationship between light and health is receiving even greater emphasis. As a result, the quality of light is replacing efficacy as a major discriminator for lighting specifiers.

The DesignLights Consortium’s (DLC) Networked Lighting Controls program is supporting a major shift toward interconnectivity. Lighting is also serving multiple functions from sound deadening to asset management to wireless internet connectivity to sanitation. Platforms like DALI-2 and PoE++ are enabling software-defined connected lighting that is more flexible and scalable. Lighting as a Service (LaaS) is allowing companies to better focus on their core competencies, rather than on energy infrastructure.

4. Indoor Air Quality

Building owners are realizing the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ) on employee health and productivity. Electric device manufacturers are answering the call. Ultraviolet (UV) light is being used to sanitize and disinfect spaces and mass transit vehicles. Fiber-based air filters are now built with an electrostatic charge and integrated UV lights to achieve better filtration from impingement, charge attraction and UV disinfection.

Plasma generators produce a stream of ions in supply ducts that make microscopic particles clump together and fall out of the air. These ions also enter the conditioned space to kill bacteria and germs before dissipating. Humidity is being removed by desiccant wheels or added using steam, ultrasonic or high-pressure misting systems.

5. Battery Energy Storage

The U.S. energy storage market is set to grow from 1.2 GW in 2020 to nearly 7 GW in 2025, representing sixfold growth. Front-of-the-meter battery storage is helping utilities with frequency regulation, voltage support and black start. Behind-the-meter battery storage is enabling time-of-use bill management, demand charge reduction, increased PV solar self-consumption and backup power resiliency.

Lithium-ion (Li-On) batteries provide higher-capacity storage, longer rated life and lower maintenance costs. Standards like NFPA 855 Installation of Stationary Storage Systems and the 2018 International Fire Code (IFC), Section 1206, have given users guidelines for safer operation of batteries.

Electric utilities: New trends for the new year

Now is the time to prepare for the trends your electric utility’s customers should be focused on in 2021 and beyond. Forecasts about electricity consumption and beneficial electrification can help your utility plan how to market your programs in the new year. Plus, understanding the changes in lighting and indoor air quality is especially important in helping customers push through the coronavirus pandemic and return to a “new normal.” A lot is in store for electric energy use this year — is your energy utility ready?

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Webinar: Diversity and Inclusion Strategies for Energy Utilities

Concerns about racial justice, diversity and inclusion have taken on renewed importance this year with a national dialogue that was long overdue. For energy utilities this issue is critical, not just as large employers, but as institutions in your communities and in the way you serve and represent your customers.

In Questline Digital’s Plugged In webinar, “Diversity & Inclusion: Strategies for Energy Utilities,” industry experts from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative, Heidrick & Struggles and Duquesne Light Company shared their insights and tactics for creating a more inclusive energy utility workplace and community.

Improving workplace diversity and inclusion at energy utilities

Patty Durand, president and CEO of SECC, started the webinar by discussing ways that energy utilities and clean tech companies can increase diversity within their workforces. She emphasized that the energy efficiency sector is the largest employer in the clean energy economy. However, not everyone is benefiting from this economic powerhouse.

For example, Hispanic, Black and women employees represent a smaller share of the energy efficiency workforce than the national workforce. That’s why it’s vital to expand energy efficiency job opportunities to low-income or marginalized communities.

Durand shared the results of a recent ACEEE report highlighting exemplary programs operated by utilities, state agencies and community-based organizations to increase diversity and inclusion. To engage underrepresented workers, ACEEE identified the following strategies:

Engage people from underrepresented groups with training and internship programs. To increase the pipeline of workers from underrepresented groups, stakeholders can offer training programs to contracting firms.
Focus on supplier diversity and inclusive procurement. Utilities can choose to work with minority, women, disabled and veteran-owned businesses to design, administer and implement their programs.

How diversity and inclusion can transform energy utilities

The world is changing fast, resulting in fundamental differences in today’s global markets and talent pools. Grappling with these changes, every company has their own unique diversity, equity and inclusion journey. Kay Fuhrman, partner and leader with Heidrick & Struggles, shared eye-opening statistics showcasing workforce inequalities and why companies need to take steps to improve diversity, equity and inclusion.

According to Heidrick & Struggles data, people of color will soon account for 120% of total net workforce growth, representing the largest share of U.S. workforce growth. But today, they only make up 13% of U.S. and U.K. executive leadership. Similar inequalities exist for women who make up 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions, but only make up 25% of C-level executives at the top 1,000 U.S. companies.

Fuhrman shared that companies who make diversity a core part of their culture experience these benefits for inclusion:

17% increase in team performance
20% increase in decision-making quality
Two times more likely to meet or exceed organizational targets
Six times more likely to be innovative and agile as an organization

All organizations are located on a continuum of diversity and inclusion, Fuhrman explained. Over the past three to five years, the majority of companies fall between “supportive” and “engaged.”

Supportive companies are focused on recruiting and hiring from underrepresented groups. With engaged companies, the concept of DE&I is embedded in their core values. At the top of the continuum are companies that are considered change agents. These leaders in DE&I have a deep understanding of what it takes to make change happen and leverage diversity.

To help energy utilities start making positive change in their workforces and culture, Fuhrman shared the ABCs of key diversity best practices:

Accelerate DE&I impact and results by aligning and preparing leaders
Build visual representation by attracting external talent
Create an inclusive culture with leadership advocacy

A commitment to being a DE&I change agent

For energy utilities, the workplace should reflect the communities they serve. Sarah Oliver Carter, Chief Diversity Officer at Duquesne Light Company, shared how a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is the foundation of the Pittsburgh-based energy utility’s workplace and mission.

To deliver on a commitment to attract and retain highly skilled talent from underrepresented communities, this year Duquesne Light Company launched a full DE&I strategy that will span the next three to five years. The utility also created a supplier diversity program to support local minority-owned businesses.

According to Carter, a commitment to DE&I started with leadership and cascaded down to other parts of the organization. The first step was aligning diversity, equity and inclusion with company strategy, then inviting employees to get involved and determine what equity means to them. The utility’s DE&I guiding principles were broken down to five main pillars:

Workforce Talent: Identify as an employer of choice. Attract, develop, retain and mentor a workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve. Enhance our employer brand to ensure that DLC is recognized as a trusted and inclusive organization.
Workforce Culture: Lead in driving and sustaining “Culture Growth.”Cultivate an environment of workplace inclusion where voices are heard, respected, valued and engaged, resulting in a workforce that sparks new and bright ideas for business success.
Customer: Support procurement in efforts to mainstream supplier diversity.
Community: Strive for excellence in customer service. Support and suggest innovative customer and business solutions through alignment with company strategy and framework.
Supplier Diversity: Lead in community impact by focusing on sustainable workforce initiatives and investing locally in the success of diverse small businesses.

As these insights illustrate, a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion needs to be an ongoing effort. Equipped with this knowledge, your energy utility can take steps to create opportunities for underrepresented populations — and create positive change in your workplace and community.

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What are Microgrids? A Major Trend in Energy Distribution

Microgrids are a much smaller version of an energy utility’s megagrid: a network that connects a few buildings, a campus or a neighborhood. They comprise distributed energy resources, energy storage systems and loads under one control system.

Microgrids connect to the main grid at a point of “common coupling,” which maintains voltage at the same level. A switch can automatically or manually separate the microgrid from the main grid, and it then functions as an island. By controlling distributed energy resources as a single entity, they can also act as a bidirectional energy network supplying power to the megagrid if necessary.

With the power of microgrids, it’s no wonder they’ve become a growing trend in the industry. This what energy utilities need to know as they advise customers about the pros and cons of microgrid technology.

Distributed energy resources spur microgrid growth

A record number of microgrids (546) were installed in the United States in 2019, although annual capacity was down 7% from 2018, according to Wood McKenzie. This is in line with a trend toward smaller (below 5 MW) replicable modular systems that started in 2017.

The pandemic has slowed growth so far in 2020. However, FERC Order 2222 will be a major post-pandemic accelerant for microgrids, paving the way for aggregated distributed energy resources (DER) to compete with traditional power plants in wholesale markets. Also, a trend toward third-party ownership of microgrids is driving the development of microgrids. The federal government has also shifted its focus from energy efficiency to resiliency through microgrids over the last few years.

Powering microgrids with renewable energy sources

Microgrids can be powered by distributed generators, batteries or renewable sources, such as solar energy. It’s not uncommon to have a mix of different power sources. Renewable energy sources in microgrids are also enabling beneficial electrification and decarbonization.

Microgrids are still primarily fossil fuel-driven, though, with 86% of new microgrid new capacity in 2019 powered by diesel fuel and natural gas. However, forecasters expect renewable power sources (solar, wind and hydropower) to drive 35% of new microgrid capacity by 2025.

Cutting costs and reducing emissions

Microgrids offer many benefits, including providing resilience in extreme weather conditions. Wildfires, hurricanes and floods often threaten the grid. Apart from emergencies, microgrids can be used for energy independence or sustainability, such as distributing solar power within a neighborhood. They can relieve pressure on the main grid during peak demand.

Microgrids benefit utility customers by providing a more reliable power supply, reducing emissions, cutting costs and connecting to local resources too small for the traditional grid.

Microgrid case studies: Resiliency at work

Microgrids are everywhere and there are a variety of sizes for any number of situations. Take, for instance, New York University’s island microgrid, which was put to the test during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This microgrid continued to provide power to much of the NYU campus, supplying electricity to 22 buildings and heat to 37 others.

The Fort Collins, Colorado, microgrid is part of a larger project known as the Fort Collins Zero Energy District. The district includes New Belgium Brewery, Colorado State University’s main campus, and other facilities. The goal of the microgrid is to produce as much energy as it consumes. The district’s distributed generation and load-shedding capabilities total 5 megawatts, or enough electricity to power about 3,750 homes.

Arizona Public Service (APS) built, owns, operates and maintains a 25 MW microgrid at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma. This installation makes MCAS Yuma 100% resilient to external grid failures and offers APS civilian customers peaking capacity and frequency response reserves.

Several manufacturers of gas-fueled engines, including Siemens, are launching microgrid systems. Using Siemens microgrid management software, one project is testing the concept of microgrid clusters. The Bronzeville Community Microgrid in Illinois is designed to serve 10 critical facilities and over 1,000 customers, including the Chicago Police Department. It will also connect to a nearby microgrid at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Microgrids offer major benefits to utilities

As these examples demonstrate, there are a variety of ways that microgrids can help communities by distributing renewable energy and backing up the main power grid during natural disasters or outages.

The benefits to utilities are anything but micro. Microgrids can improve the operation and stability of the regional electric grid and provide increased resiliency to critical operations customers like hospitals. Plus, they can shore up aging utility infrastructure and decrease peak demand. For energy utilities, thinking small has its advantages.

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Webinar: Financial Impact of Coronavirus on Small Businesses

The coronavirus pandemic is far from over. Businesses everywhere continue to deal with the economic fallout of the crisis even as some assistance and deferment programs come to an end. Small and medium business customers will continue to look to their energy utility throughout the winter for resources and support to survive the financial impact of coronavirus.

In Questline Digital’s Plugged In webinar, “Financial Impact of the Coronavirus on Small Businesses,” guest experts from the SBA and AEP Ohio discussed strategies for energy utilities to help SMB customers through the next phase of the crisis.

SMB customers fight to overcome COVID-19 challenges

Small business customers everywhere are feeling the stress and of the pandemic financially, mentally and emotionally. As numerous SMB owners fight to keep their dreams moving forward, others have locked their doors for what they hope is a temporary closure.

Andrea Roebker, regional communications director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, has held roundtable discussions throughout the Midwest listening to the concerns of small business owners. Through these meetings, Roebker has seen the stress of SMB owners firsthand, but she also says there is optimism as they push innovation in their businesses and remain encouraged by the possibility of future stimulus and financial aid.

Roebker’s team at the SBA takes information learned at these roundtables back to Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of SMB owners and their needs. She says working to save small businesses and their jobs is huge. “Small businesses are the economic engine of this country. They create two out of every three jobs.”

At its core, the SBA helps to start, grow or expand small businesses through federal taxpayer funding. The SBA not only helps to educate and guide small businesses with resources, but also helps entrepreneurs who typically would not be able to get funding through a bank. By guaranteeing loans, the SBA reduces the risk for commercial lenders.

Federal support for businesses continues

In the first months of the coronavirus outbreak, Congress passed the CARES Act and created two new programs designed to assist small businesses. The SBA launched these programs in the following weeks, which is an unusually quick turnaround for federal government decisions.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was designed to keep employees on SMB payrolls. This program allocated money to 5.2 million small businesses and nonprofits nationwide.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance was patterned after the SBA’s existing Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Typically, this emergency funding follows natural disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes; this is the first time in the SBA’s history that a disaster fell into the pandemic category.

Those programs ended on August 8, but the SBA still offers numerous ways to assist small businesses:

SBA Debt Relief program allows the SBA to make payments toward small business loans. The SBA has made several months of payments for those loans so small business owners can focus on other expenses, like paying their energy bills.
Traditional SBA-Backed Lending loan lowers the risk for banks and includes favorable terms for small businesses, allowing them to raise needed capital. Roebker noted that fiscal year 2020 is equal to fiscal year 2019 in level of lending. “Many would think small businesses wouldn’t be going after loans like this, but they are as a means to pivot or grow their businesses.”
No-Cost Business Advising helps small businesses get support and resources they need through resource partners across the nation, including helping entrepreneurs rewrite business plans or create a digital platform.

Connecting utility customers to SMB assistance

AEP Ohio and serves about 1.5 million customers, including several thousand small business customers. According to Katie Grayem, director of customer experience with AEP Ohio, “Our goal is really to have the trusted energy provider relationship with customers.” AEP Ohio’s pandemic response was designed to meet the needs of their customers and provide win-win opportunities for them to benefit from the utility’s services and programs. The goal was to help grow the communities they serve.

Through an educational and informative role, Grayem says the energy provider also helps customers understand available programs outside of AEP Ohio. “We were trying to stay really active to help customers reach their financial obligations to ‘keep the lights on,’ as they say,” Grayem said.

A multichannel messaging strategy was an effective way to reach AEP Ohio’s customers and empathize with them. The energy utility wanted to be proactive in telling customers with past due balances what the implications would be following the disconnect moratorium in Ohio.

AEP Ohio also shifted their calling center responses from a “pay us now” mentality to offering assistance in enrolling in payment programs. For the first time, the utility offered payment plan options for non-residential customers.

AEP Ohio leveraged various communications channels, including their Questline Digital eNewsletter, social media and a specific business assistance page on their website to offer payment plan options and energy savings tips. Their business call center also had a dedicated unit with specialized training on the PPP and CARES Act programs to offer further resources to customers.

Like Roebker, Grayem sees positive signs in the business owners who are benefiting from financial assistance programs. “Unlike our residential population, who seem to be most inclined to take longer payback periods,” she said, “our commercial customers really seemed to just want to try it out and I think that’s a sign of optimism.”

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Solar Chimneys: Clean and Cost-Effective Heating and Cooling

As we prepare for the big man in red to make his yearly appearance, his normal entryway for businesses is getting an upgrade. Solar chimneys are becoming a more common building design element to create comfortable environments inside.

What are solar chimneys?

Solar chimneys, also known as a thermosiphon or thermal chimneys, are “passive” conduits that harness environmental conditions to generate cool air within buildings and expel hot air, or vice versa. Comparably, many buildings use “active” energy consuming measures, which use complex building systems to create comfortable indoor conditions, such as boilers and chillers.

Solar chimneys are tall structures designed to face the sun with a dark, matte surface to absorb solar radiation. They use the same principle as a fireplace, where the heat naturally rises to the top of the chimney and cool air enters the bottom. In the case of solar chimneys, the sun is what causes the air to heat up and rise. This allows cooler air from below to be pulled into the chimney, warmed and vented. The process of rising hot air and entering cool air provides ventilation in the chimney and helps cool the building below.

However, solar chimneys can also be used to heat buildings when the weather turns cool. For this, the ventilation outlet at the top of the chimney, where the hot air normally exhausts, is closed and interior vents are opened, allowing the hot air back into the building.

The keys to solar chimney design

Solar chimneys are particularly effective when they are placed in an area where they can be directly hit by sunlight. Size matters too — they need to be tall and wide, but not too deep so that the surface areas that both absorb the sun and come in contact with the air inside the chimney is maximized. Solar chimneys can vary in design for maximum efficiency, including adding multiple chambers to increase the surface area or using materials that absorb the most heat, such as a black frame, tinted glass and insulated glazing.

Another important aspect of the design is how cool air gets funneled into the solar chimney. Two methods are typically used for this ventilation process. One option is to open windows on the lowest level of the building to capture cool air flowing through the building and send it the base of the chimney. Another option is to bury a pipe underground; the air in the pipe cools and eventually makes its way to the base of the chimney where it can be heated and released. The design one chooses is up to the capabilities of the building and cost.

The benefits of solar chimneys

There are numerous advantages to using a solar chimney to regulate the air inside buildings.

Solar chimneys have a smaller impact on the environment compared to traditional chimneys that emit smoke. Solar chimneys simply emit air, thus no pollution and no carbon dioxide emissions.
Solar chimneys are a cost-effective choice for a cooling and heating system compared to air conditioning or heating units. Plus, no electricity or gas is needed to power the chimney.
They are more reliable and easier to maintain than conventional units since they don’t require any actual mechanics. No power outages or breakdowns affect them — only sunlight. Since they don’t require fuels to operate, they also are easier to keep clean.

As business customers consider more cost-effective and eco-friendly options to heat and cool their buildings, solar chimneys are becoming a viable choice. As their energy utility, it’s important to be aware of this trending technology to assist your customers in their decision-making. Plus, with the holidays around the corner, Santa will certainly appreciate the latest innovation in chimney technology.

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