An energy audit should address more than an inventory of your electrical equipment. It is important to understand how you use energy. Then we can understand how to reduce your energy usage. However as you can see in the figure above just reducing energy does not ensure a reduction in energy cost. For example, a ~30% reduction in energy may realize cost reduction because 50% of your fees are from Peak Demands, and more from Time of Use (TOU). An audit review should incorporate a balance between usage and how you’re billed for that usage in an effort to flatten the energy curve. Strategies to reduce peak demand, then time of use cost is of primary importance, then overall energy reduction will yield more linear cost reduction results.
Author: TR Bietsch, Managing Director, HelioEMS
