Published Article
Energy Efficiency:
The Challenge of Making it Work
By Robert Zabors, Published in Electric Lights & Power
Several powerful forces have combined to create one of the electric utility industry's most complex challenges: responding to the rapidly growing societal mandate for action on energy efficiency.
The mandate comes from the consumer. Consumers today are concerned with the environment and sustainability, energy security and energy independence. They expect higher reliability performance — from an aging grid that was designed for a previous generation of end-use applications. People want more control over rising electric costs and environmental impact, and the lower bills that could result from wiser or decreased use.
For their part, utilities know that energy efficiency can help address a variety of their concerns such as carbon mitigation, asset-based growth and infrastructure renewal. In an era of rising commodity costs and right-of-way and NIMBY restriction, energy efficiency also presents the utility with a way to improve asset utilization. Energy efficiency can create incremental capacity, energy and ancillary resources, particularly as new fossil generation faces higher costs and permitting risk. Energy efficiency presents an opportunity to upgrade information and telecommunications technology to enable programs and system controls, and economic development and retention through reliability and customized programs. Importantly, energy efficiency can also generate regulatory and community support for eventual rate increases for core operations.
During the past few years, we've noticed a shift in tone from the executives we've spoken with about energy efficiency. They've rapidly gone from "What's the potential?" to "Show me who's doing it," and now, "How do we get started?"
News of successful pilots utilizing existing and emerging technologies comes out on a weekly basis. Legislative "innovation" also continues on a state and federal basis in response to societal and political pressure and of course, the 2008 election cycle.
In particular, the sense of urgency is highest when addressing climate change concerns and when finding resources to support continued load growth at a time when prices of generation are rising quickly.
With this level of support, why is making energy efficiency work a challenge at all?