Public Power - May 2008 - (Page 36)

ENERGY AUDITS FOR BY SAND Y G LAT T A ND LIN D S AY B IX B Y Large Industries easiest, fastest, cheapest, cleanest and least regulated way to meet new power demand is to improve your customers’ energy efficiency. This will not only make customers more economically competitive, but also will allow utilities to manage distribution in the most cost-effective manner. The additional energy can be available for distribution if the industrial customers of the utilities participate in a federal government program that helps energy-intensive plants find ways of being more energy efficient. These opportunities are low-cost to evaluate and implement and provide sizeable energy savings, typically reducing industrial customers’ bills by 10 percent each year. In some cases, the savings have been substantial enough to help customers grow their businesses and create new jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now (SEN) initiative provides a free service to energy-intensive industrial plants to help them reduce their energy consumption. The SEN initiative, part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), conducts energy audits or energy savings assessments at eligible industrial plants, providing expert recommendations, facts, and figures to improve plants’ energy efficiency. Performed by trained energy experts, the energy savings assessments identify equipment and practices that waste energy and suggest ways to reduce electricity and fuel consumption. The assessments include training of plant personnel and engineers to ensure that energy recommendations are implemented properly and the projected savings fully realized. Industrial facilities participating in an assessment cover the cost of implementing the recommendations of the expert who audited the facility. Improvements recommended by the auditors typically have a payback period of less than three years. As of January 2008, DOE performed energy savings as36 MAY 2008 The sessments at more than 400 plants in the United States, resulting in an estimated $279 million in annual savings. Although energy savings assessments are designed to bring direct benefits to energyintensive industrial customers, utilities gain a lot from participating in this program. For example, with this reduced load, more energy is available for other customers without the utility having to spend capital to increase its generation capacity. It will also help prevent against load instability during peak use times. In addition, energy efficiency improves the economic viability of important industrial customers. This ensures that not only the jobs in a utility’s service district are saved, but also encourages a community’s businesses to grow. Finally, the utilities will increase the good will of their customers by informing them of these free energy audits and helping them save money. DOE created the Save Energy Now initiative in 2005 when natural gas prices increased sharply. To reduce natural gas consumption, SEN was designed to reduce gas usage at the facilities that used the most gas: industrial plants. However, DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program recently expanded its energy savings assessments portfolio to include electric processes. Now, as part of the assessments, energy experts will examine a plant’s compressed air system, process heating system, fans, pumps, or steam system. Possible results range from simple fixes to leaks to more comprehensive adjustments, such as electric arc furnace waste heat recovery. Plants that consume more than 87.9 million kWh annually are eligible to participate in these energy savings assessments, while plants that consume smaller amounts of energy qualify for an assessment performed by a university-based Industrial Assessment Center. The university programs are similar to energy savings assessments, although they are completed in a single day, while the larger assess- ments are typically completed over three days. University personnel look at opportunities to save energy by making changes to the building envelope or by retrofitting lighting. Each energy savings assessment is tailored to the needs and setup of the plant being assessed. On the first day, the auditor meets with plant management and engineers and takes a preliminary tour of the facility to learn about the plant’s setup. This opening session also serves as a forum for managers and plant personnel to discuss system processes and concerns with the operation of their plant. Learning about the plant’s processes helps an energy expert determine which pieces of equipment to analyze and the tools to use. The auditors use a variety of software tools to help identify and analyze the source and extent of energy savings possible at plants. The second day of an assessment is generally devoted to examining plant processes and collecting data. The last day is typically spent finishing the analysis, discussing results with the plant management and determining how to implement the recommendations. J. M. Huber Corp. in Broken Bow, Okla., a customer of the Broken Bow Public Works Authority, invited DOE auditors in for an energy savings assessment at its oriented strand board plant. The plant opened in 2004 and manufactures a product similar to plywood. The facility is the world’s largest oriented strand board plant, with 150 employees and producing more than 600 million square feet of the panels annually. In 2006, the facility consumed more than 58.7 million kWh of electricity and 194.0 million cubic feet of natural gas, with an electric bill of approximately $3.7 million. J.M. Huber Corp. has taken strides to grow its business in an environmentally sustainable manner. An analysis of the plant’s compressed air system led to identification of operational improvements that reduced the plant’s electricity consumption by 561,200 PUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - May 2008

Public Power - May 2008 Contents Perspective LEEDing the Way Ontario Moves to Mandatory Time-of-Use Pricing Journey to the Smart Grid Right-Sizing Transformers Energy Audits for Large Industries Economic Development Community Broadband Reliability Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - May 2008

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