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Utilities Business Review | Monday, June 17, 2024
Utilities find themselves tasked with reinventing an electric ecosystem progressive enough to support decarbonization yet reliable and affordable enough to sustain society’s high energy demand.
FREMONT, CA: A special convergence of energy justice and environmental sustainability has emerged as a cornerstone to rebuilding the nation as America attempts to recover economically and socially post-pandemic. Once again, utilities are faced with the challenge of creating an electric ecosystem that is both reliable and economical while also being innovative enough to enable decarbonization.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were among the most badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis, as 99.9 percent of all U.S. businesses fall into this category. SMBs contribute significantly to carbon pollution both directly and indirectly through the scope 3 emissions of bigger manufacturers. Unfortunately, compared to their residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) counterparts, SMBs have historically been underserved as a client sector by utility providers, receiving less than five percent of utility spending on energy-saving programs.
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SMBs are far more diversified and hence more difficult to support collectively than residential clients, who tend to have fairly constant energy needs. Law offices use less electricity than launderettes, whereas grocery stores use more than apparel stores. It is ineffective to provide the same services to all of these SMBs or to use the same energy-efficiency marketing strategies to reach them. SMBs find it more challenging than residential users to change their energy usage. Homes were pled with to postpone doing laundry and charging electric vehicles during the recent flex alerts amid California's hot wave to prevent overloading the grid. An SMB's operations could suffer if it abruptly stopped using electricity. SMBs are not in a position financially to absorb such a loss.
Utilities can enable SMB owners to save money on electricity bills—a major operating expense—while also supporting carbon reduction in line with national targets by assisting them in enhancing and reducing their energy usage in ways that preserve company continuity. SMB energy consumption levels vary significantly based on the size, type, and location of the organization as well as external variables like the season and weather. Fortunately, the development of smart meters means utilities can now, for the first time, access extremely accurate and granular customer data that is unique to each SMB.
Machine learning can identify appliance type, time of use, and a variety of other factors by detecting energy characteristics and patterns in the utility's library of data from smart meters. An SMB's typical working hours, which often remain consistent throughout the year with minor seasonal or daily variances, are one of its key characteristics. Operation-related appliance usage generally stays the same or depends only on the time of day during working hours. For instance, only when the firm is open do consumption categories like lights, computers, and ventilation run continually. However, a 24-hour grocery shop would include lighting equipment that was used both throughout the day and at night, unlike an office-based business that might turn off all lights after closing.
SMBs may learn how their consumption patterns affect their energy expenditure by viewing consumption patterns broken down by appliance. SMBs have the chance to investigate areas that can be changed for higher efficiency, such as regulating lighting during nonworking hours to prevent needless demand costs, even though some operational usage will be essential and unpredictable. SMBs will be given the ability to make wiser energy decisions if utilities deliver them individualized energy data. Knowing which adjustments would not affect business operations gives SMBs a greater chance to participate the next time a flex alert is issued.
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