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KEMA Sees Opportunities to Address End-Use Data Gap for Energy Efficiency, Grid Reliability Goals
New Understanding of Consumer Energy Use Needed, AMI Can Change the Landscape
| Source: KEMA
BURLINGTON, MA--(Marketwire - November 10, 2009) - KEMA (www.kema.com) has identified
opportunities to address existing gaps in and problems with energy end-use
data used to support utility energy efficiency programs, electric capacity
markets, and environmental policy. The findings are part of KEMA's "End-Use
Load Data Update Project" sponsored by the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council's Regional Technical Forum (RTF) and the
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP) Evaluation Measurement and
Verification (EM&V) Forum.
The KEMA project assessed and catalogued the more recently completed
existing end-use and load shape data studies that may be useful for the
Northeast and Northwest regions of the US. The resulting study found that in recent decades,
efforts to gather end-use load data appear to be scattered and minimal
across the Pacific Northwest and East regions. Although a significant
amount of data was gathered in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1980s
through the early 1990s, confidence in the data has waned.
One motivation for this study is to help utility energy efficiency program
administrators devise the most cost-effective plans for updating and
acquiring end use load shape data to meet a variety of policy and program
needs. The KEMA report includes recommendations for various strategies to
meet immediate and short-term information needs -- including establishing a
protocol for ancillary data collection to facilitate data transferability
and usability. The report also offers longer-term recommendations to
leverage advanced metering
infrastructure (AMI) as it evolves.
"Technologies change and consumer behavior evolves," said Curt Puckett,
senior vice president of Sustainable Market Strategies, KEMA. "We need to
understand the changing consumer energy use profile. If we want to move
customers towards making more energy efficient decisions we need much
greater detail about how, how much and when consumers use energy."
As the US makes the largest single investment in grid modernization in its
history, how well equipped the nation is to further energy efficiency,
reduce energy bills and strengthen system reliability depends, in part, on
the quality of consumer end-use information.
AMI can vastly improve load research cycle
While not directly addressed in the load data report, it is important to
note that the promise of more accurate load data has been used to
strengthen the case for utility smart grid projects. Smart meters and advanced
metering infrastructure (AMI) are needed to more accurately understand how
and when energy is being consumed. AMI could dramatically change how
end-use load research is conducted. Historically, end-use projects have
been costly and time consuming -- involving installation of monitoring
devices on isolated circuits associated with the desired end-use
application.
"AMI allows the load research cycle to be vastly improved, reducing the
lead time and costs associated with installing and collecting data on vast
quantities of customers at the whole facility level," said Puckett. "This
will free-up resources allowing firms like KEMA to develop innovative ways
of breaking down the load and examining its various end-use components."
Such detailed information is critical for Independent System Operators
(ISOs) and grid operators in regions where energy efficiency has become an
important resource to meet peak demand periods. ISOs and grid operators
need reliable data about the size and duration of demand that can respond
to peak demand events and resource changes. Advanced meters, if properly
configured, can provide the information to make energy efficiency an even
more valuable generation resource.
The KEMA "End-Use Load Data Update Project" final report is available for
download at www.kema.com/LoadData.
About KEMA
Founded in 1927, KEMA is a global provider of business and technical
consulting, operational support, measurement and inspection, testing and
certification for the energy and utility industry. With world headquarters
in Arnhem, the Netherlands, KEMA employs more than 1,400 professionals
globally and has offices in 13 countries. KEMA's US subsidiary, KEMA, Inc.,
is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts and serves energy clients
throughout the Americas and Caribbean.