The reality is that the energy infrastructure in the US is falling apart. Utilities do not have the billions of dollars to upgrade systems to deliver electricity where needed. Aging equipment and systems has contributed to the problem. In addition, gentrification has raised power demands in neighborhoods that had a low demand, making it difficult to shift delivery. Even technology has contributed to the problem. It used to be that people would come home from work to a hot unit, put on the AC and wait some time to cool off. Now smart phones can turn on a unit’s AC while the person is still in the office so the home is nice and cool when he/she arrives. The AC is on simultaneously in many offices and homes.
Thus, more and more parts of the US are suffering brownouts and blackouts, particularly in the summer when cooling demand raises electricity usage greatly, and particularly during workdays in the afternoon when maximum power is needed. A problem with serving such a high peak is the diversification of sources of power. More utilities are producing or purchasing electricity from renewable sources, such as solar and wind. The problem is that these sources are not reliable. Renewable power will not help on a hot and humid high-demand day which also happens to be cloudy and/or windless. Renewable power cannot churn out the added power to make up for the peak. Many renewable plants are also many miles away from the cities that need the power.
Because the expense of maintaining the system and addressing interruptions is significant, many utilities now charge customers substantial charges for a high short-term demand for electricity during these hours. But this does not seem to deter many.
If changing behavior is not happening, operating more energy equipment (lights, AC, etc.) should help this problem. Another solution is load shifting, moving electricity consumption from a peak time period to another time to “flatten the curve” of electric demand. This can be helpful for by utilities even if the load shifting results in greater electricity usage because their concern is delivering power reliably during peak usage. For now, when activities occur is more important than how much power they use.
An example of load shifting is moving an industrial process to a different shift, such as overnight, rather than during the day. While this may cost the firm more in overtime or duplicate use of equipment at night and day, it can be made up in savings in peak demand cost by eliminating the high peak demand during the day.
Another example of load shifting revolves around energy storage for space cooling, so important in peak periods. Systems exist to make large quantities of ice during the overnight (far from peak) period and allow air to flow around the ice to cool it during the peak period. Power needed for such blowers is much less than for large AC systems, reducing power needed during the peak period. A related approach is charging batteries with grid electricity during the night and use it (and not grid power) during the peak period. These often result in a net increase in total electricity used; but this can reduce costs as usage during the peak, expensive period of summer workday afternoons is reduced. These are examples of storing cooling energy either as ice or in batteries.
Load shifting is something businesses should consider, not only to reduce total electric costs, but also to help the grid supply electricity reliably to the entire community and to promote intermittent renewable energy and thus reducing reliance on fossil fuel-based power plants.
CCES has the experts to evaluate your company or building’s electricity usage. We can recommend cost-effective strategies for your specific situation, such greater efficiency, renewable power, or load shifting, to streamline your energy management system and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.