Energy Demand

Demand Management: turning energy-intensive equipment into income

Sophie Danby — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 23:24:18 +0000

Ged Holmes, Commercial Director at OpenEnergi

Ged Holmes, Commercial Director at Open Energi provides an introduction to Demand Management and how it can help Energy Managers offset rising energy costs.

Recent news headlines about the risk of blackouts this winter have shone the spotlight on National Grid and the security of the UK’s energy supply. Nuclear plants take a long time to build, and the next few years are expected to see spare capacity in the electricity network fall to record lows.

For energy managers facing spiralling energy costs, this presents an opportunity; when National Grid is feeling the squeeze, one tactic at its disposal is to ask large energy users in the industrial and commercial sectors to reduce their electricity demand and pay them in return.

In the past, Demand Management of this kind has only been applicable to a fairly narrow set of businesses; industrial processes which can be switched off in an emergency or organisations with standby generators on their sites which can provide a boost to capacity. However, the market is changing, and solutions now exist which have no impact on a business’ operations and provide a long-term income stream.

To understand how the options differ, it helps to know a little bit about our electricity network and what is happening behind the switch.

Keeping the lights on – a balancing act

For our electricity supplies to be maintained, it is vital that at any moment in time, the supply and demand for electricity are equal. An indicator of this is the grid frequency which National Grid must maintain at 50 Hertz. Too much electricity in the network causes the frequency to rise above 50 Hertz and could lead to equipment failures. Too little and the frequency drops below 50 Hertz, which could mean the lights go out.

National Grid manages this balancing act down to the last second, even monitoring when the X Factor finishes so that by the time we’ve walked to our kitchens to flick the switch on four million kettles, the power is there.

It has incredibly sophisticated forecasting techniques that help to ensure our lights stay on, and 99.9% of the time they get it right. But 0.01% of the time something unexpected happens; a power station goes off-line or the football goes into extra time.

This is where the grid balancing market comes in. Grid balancing services help National Grid to respond to unexpected peaks and troughs in electricity demand. Traditionally, it has ramped the supply of electricity from power stations up or down to meet fluctuations in demand but this approach is costly, inefficient and polluting. Managing the demand for electricity from our businesses and homes offers a quicker, cleaner and more affordable approach.

Demand Management – what are the options?

There are four main types of Demand Management and depending on the nature of your business and the equipment or processes you use, one or more may be applicable.

STOR (Short Term Operating Reserve)

STOR is a service which National Grid calls on when there is a shortfall in electricity supply. Equipment responds to a signal sent by National Grid which turns it on (if the asset can supply power, such as a diesel generator) or off (if the asset consumes power, such as an industrial chiller). Equipment must be able to respond within 20 minutes and on average, will be used for around 1.5 hours. National Grid tends to use this service around 70 times per year.

FCDM (Frequency Control by Demand Management)

FCDM is also used to tackle supply shortages. It responds within seconds to a sudden, serious drop in grid frequency. FCDM is most suited to very large industrial assets where a relay can be installed to cut power to an entire site for 30 minutes, at zero minutes’ notice. It is usually only called on between 10-30 times per year,

Dynamic Demand

This can help National Grid when there is too much electricity as well as when there is too little. It works with a range of equipment including heaters, air conditioning units, water pumps, refrigerators and chillers and makes subtle adjustments to the timing of a device’s electricity consumption without interrupting service or impacting performance. It is used all year round and must be able to respond within seconds, but usually only for a few minutes at a time.

Triad avoidance

This involves turning off assets during the afternoon/early evening on occasions when winter peak periods are expected to occur, to avoid an increased cost penalty. Since 1990, Triads have occurred between 17th November and 8th February, between 4:30pm and 6pm, on non-holiday weekdays.

A changing energy mix = a growing market

With more nuclear power on the way and continuing investment in wind and solar, you’d be forgiven for thinking that in the longer-term, as more capacity becomes available, the need for Demand Management of this kind would fall away, but in fact the opposite is true.

Together nuclear power and renewable energy make the supply side of National Grid’s balancing equation harder to manage. Nuclear plants cannot be ramped up and down in the way that a gas or coal-fired plant could and are operated at a steady but inflexible output. And as we all know, renewable sources such as wind and solar are inherently unpredictable.

As a result, demand for grid balancing services is expected to increase by 25% by 2020, putting huge pressure on prices in what is currently estimated to be a £1 billion market.

For Energy Managers this sends a very clear message. Adopting Demand Management techniques now will unlock a recurring revenue stream that will grow over time and can help to offset the growth in energy costs your business is facing.

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IEA highlights “huge” untapped potential for energy efficiency

Gail Rajgor — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 15:25:51 +0000

Investment in energy efficiency markets around the world have been pegged at around US$300 million in 2011 – a level on a par with global investments in renewable energy or fossil-fueled power generation – the International Energy Agency (IEA) today announced. However, there is still a “huge opportunity going unrealised”, it said.

IEA Untapped Potential Chart

“The scale of global investment in energy efficiency and its contribution to energy demand are as significant as those of other developed supply-side resources,” the IEA says in its inaugural Energy Efficiency Market Report. IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven presented the report at the World Energy Congress in Korea. “The cleanest megawatt hour will be the one we never need, and the most secure barrel of oil the one we never burn. It is also often the cheapest, and the easiest to achieve in difficult conditions.”

She acknowledged that “For many years, commentators, including the IEA, have struggled to clearly grasp what energy efficiency is”. She added: “Energy efficiency opportunities really make up an interlinked constellation – between transport, industry, buildings, and the like. And understanding that constellation as a market, is a relatively new undertaking.”

According to the IEA, from 2005 to 2010, efficiency measures saved the energy equivalent of US$420 billion worth of oil in a group of 11 IEA member countries. “Had it not been for energy efficiency measures implemented in past years, consumers in those 11 IEA member countries would now be consuming – and thus paying for – about two-thirds more energy than they currently use.”

In 2010 in those countries, the energy savings from efficiency measures exceeded the output from any other single fuel source. That year, the 11 IEA economies avoided burning 1.5 billion tonnes of oil equivalent thanks to efficiency improvements developed since 1974. By comparison, in 2010 those same economies consumed about 1 billion tonnes of oil equivalent from assets developed over the same period.

Effective policies and the high price of energy generally have driven the energy efficiency market, with the IEA noting “high oil prices in particular have encouraged savings”. Energy standards, labelling, access to assessments and financing, and obligations on suppliers have also “proved crucial”.

By adopting known best technologies, the “Efficient World” World Energy Outlook scenario to 2035 shows that global energy demand can be cut by half compared to the baseline scenario, fuel bills are cut by 20% on average; and the global economy is boosted by a cumulative US$ 18 trillion to 2035, van der Hoeven said. “But we need to develop these markets now to better tap this huge potential.”

There are problems going forward though. “The absence of dynamic pricing in energy markets together with subsidies, high transaction costs, information failures and a lack of institutional capacity can sometimes impede efficiency improvements.” And more financial support needs to be forthcoming.

Didier Houssin, the IEA’s Director of Energy Markets and Security, pointed out that investments in energy efficiency are still less than two‐thirds of the level of fossil fuel subsidies, which “encourage wasteful and inefficient consumption”. He stressed: “The world doesn’t fully understand the outcomes that energy efficiency delivers”.

The IEA report provides examples of the “monetised benefits” to come from energy efficiency measures, including those related to health, to help get the message across. It also has a special focus on the appliances and information communication technology (ICT) equipment sector. “Here, while traditional appliance markets seem static, energy efficient products and ICT equipment are growth areas for energy efficiency,” the report says.

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London Zoo roars to success to become first official Low Energy Company in UK

Gail Rajgor — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 10:28:05 +0000

ZSL London Zoo has been officially recognised as the world’s first Low Energy Company (LEC). It gained the official status after putting its staff through basic energy management training, using courses approved by the Energy Managers Association’s (EMA) sister company the Carbon Management Association – a condition of gaining LEC status.

Often under-prioritised, energy is the lifeblood of any business and that’s no different for ZSL London Zoo. It spent £850,000 on energy last year to ensure it could create and maintain the right conditions in the numerous different wildlife habitats it has onsite.

However, as a charity, the zoo does not have big budgets to invest in the latest gizmos and gadgets to save energy, explained David Field, zoological director at ZSL London Zoo. Adopting the LEC pathway and training its staff to switch off lights and unplug equipment when not in use, and take other measures to conserve energy, will though make “a massive difference to our energy bill”, he said.

It is generally estimated that training of staff can reduce energy use in companies by 10-20%. “It’s an area that has been neglected in the past but will become increasingly vital,” said Lord Rupert Redesdale, CEO of the EMA and Low Energy (UK) Ltd (an additional sister company to EMA which oversees the LEC initiative).

Growing imperative

With the Department of Energy and Climate Change noting that commercial energy costs have more than doubled in the last year, and with energy prices forecast to double over the next five years, training employees in how to most efficiently manage energy in the workplace is a key element in reducing bottom-line costs.

It should be an issue that runs from “the boiler house to the board room”, said Anthony Mayall, Managing Director of NIFES Consulting Group, which worked with ZSL to train its staff in its bid to become LEC accredited.

Mayall was speaking at a conference at London Zoo on 3^rd October, where the UK’s top energy managers gathered to discuss the importance of energy training for staff, energy performance standards and the why the LEC initiative is set to be a key driving in helping businesses drive down their energy costs. The three keys to better energy management, Mayall told the audience, are “buy better, use better, sustain and improve”.

Across the UK, a 1% reduction in energy use would save £400 million, according to NIFES. That means some £1.2 billion could be wiped off the country’s energy bill if efficiency savings of just 3% could be achieved (and this would cut carbon emissions by 450,000 tonnes in the process). “People engagement is essential,” Mayall said. “What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done.”

“The LEC programme lays out a roadmap for companies and their supply chains to achieve this effectively”, said Redesdale. “With two levels of training available, it aims to replicate the success of health and safety or first aid training in the workplace and is poised to become the largest industrial training course in the UK” he said.

The EMA represents energy managers from some of the biggest companies in the country, with a collective energy spend of around £3 billion. With these members expected to sign up to the LEC initiative, Redesdale is confident that around three to five million people will be trained to LEC standards by 2018. Workers who undertake the LEC programme training also have the benefit of skills and knowledge that can help them in the job marketplace, he pointed out.

“Another real positive of LEC, is that it encourages companies and organizations to take the message and the training throughout the supply chain,” added Mayall. Indeed, ZSL London Zoo has formally pledged to help and encourage its supply chain companies to follow suit in gaining LEC status. It will also be audited annually to ensure it maintains its own performance to LEC standards. As Mayall says, “it’s a win-win”.

And if you think there’s no pay-back in investing in energy management or staff energy efficiency training, think again. NIFES is clear: “We guarantee that ‘no cost/low cost’ savings will exceed the cost” of its energy reduction programme (this programme typically sees NIFES partner with companies for three years and includes staff training via an EMA/CMA approved LEC course).

Image obtained from Rage With A Smile Photography

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“Energy is the lifeblood of our business”

Rachel Parkes — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 10:00:48 +0000

Chris George, head of energy and environment at Whitbread, speaks to Energy Demand about over-legislation, Whitbread’s carbon version of Space Invaders, and why the UK needs a Dig For Victory programme for energy.

Whitbread has published a target to cut its carbon emissions by 25% by 2017, but it has not published its energy use target – can you explain why you’ve chosen to publicly measure one but not the other?

We chose to adopt carbon because a lot of the external reporting is now centred on carbon, and our carbon targets will go hand in hand with saving energy. We do have internal energy saving targets that we set all of our properties, and that’s 3% per year. So since 2009, when we set our baseline energy signatures in carbon, we’ve saved about 12% across our 2,000 properties in electricity and gas.

We’re one of the only companies to financially incentivise our managers every year, through our Whitbread in Numbers (WIN) card, which is like a KPI scorecard. Managers can earn a percentage of their salary in bonus by saving energy, and then every month we offer incentives for our team members either through fun online quizzes or interactive training.

So what prompted you to implement your energy targets?

The prompt for our targets probably stemmed from development of our carbon reduction programme Good Together which we established in 2009. Since that time we’ve demonstrated that as a major hospitality business we do have an aggressive expansion programme and we can still deliver energy, carbon and water savings.

I look at four factors that I call the four C’s: costs, compliance, consumer trends and company reputation. A possible fifth is competitor advantage but those four are the pillars.

Can you run us through some of the key measures Whitbread is taking to cut its energy demand?

We’ve always believed that accurate monitoring and measuring is vital to energy demand management. We won a competition with the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to fund a project to look at the disconnect between design and construction and operation. So commonly new energy efficient buildings are built, and then you can never see the actual energy performance data to compare it with what you did in the energy modelling. This is a piece of valuable work that will give us an insight into the right solutions and technology to save energy.

We AMR everything from electricity to gas and water, so we’ve got real-time data. We’ve also got historic profiles so when we’re setting our targets for our weekly reports they’re all based on what the coffee shop, hotel or restaurant was using at the same time last year. And when we’re setting other KPI targets we’re looking at year-on-year performance, as well as degree-day weather differential and occupancy, which is important for us.

Last year we focused on engagement with our team members, using all the usual suite of engagement tools which big companies look at: management tools, online academy training programmes, energy walk-round guides, posters and stickers and so on.

We developed an interactive Space Invaders-style arcade game in-house called Carbon Invaders using a software platform –you had to battle the evil toxins of carbon and water and waste and energy. It was really successful. We had 4,500 hits in a week, which was a lot more than we would usually get for a training programme.

What is the most challenging aspect of cutting your energy use?

Last year was a really challenging year for everyone in the hospitality industry because we saw some extremely diverse weather. When I was young, summers were summers and winters were winters. March this year was 5 degrees colder than last year, so that put a massive energy demand on our business. But because of the energy savings measures we had in place, we reduced our exposure to use and cost. Last year I think we saved about 4% across our portfolio – the thing about Whitbread is that we are a big growing company and we opened 4,200 rooms last year as well as 10 restaurants and 180 coffee shops. So even though we’re growing the business we’re trying to mitigate energy use.

Are there any energy challenges specific to the hospitality industry?

In terms of our hotel operations, it is a a 24/7 business, and the onus of energy use is on the guest. We can help them to be green during their stay, but people have this perception that they’ve paid for the room and that room is theirs if they want to use energy. It’s about investing in energy saving technology that doesn’t affect the guest’s experience. But energy is the lifeblood of our business. The energy challenge facing us is probably no different to the energy challenges facing everyone.

How do you ensure that the standards of energy efficiency are the same across the whole portfolio?

It comes down to our Good Together programme because it underpins everything we do as a business. It’s our solution to embedding energy saving into our business. It promotes leadership in action and it shows our 40,000 team members how they can do small things to make a difference. To drive energy saving we have a number of key performance targets, both public and internal, we have governance around our commitments and we have an environmental policy that has ten clear commitments signed off by the board. It’s communicated in everyone’s development plan and job description and we do a lot of training on energy awareness from day one alongside health and safety and food safety.

How easy is it to justify the capital investment of energy efficiency measures your board and to shareholders?

It’s got easier over the years. We need to deliver significant energy savings over the next few years, and a lot of it is driven by the value at stake, or lost business opportunity. So it’s a question of doing nothing, or investing in technology and behaviour and good procurement, as well as generating our own energy. All of this mix puts us in a good position, because if we did nothing it would cost us millions of pounds as a business. If you map out a trajectory of the way that expansion and our consumption’s going to go, there is a big difference between that and the savings a project is going to deliver. That’s very clear. In terms of payback, we look at a mix of paybacks, either one year, three years or nine years. This year we’ll invest £4 million in energy saving technology in our core estate, with an average payback of just over £1 million. So it does improve shareholder value and boosts our company reputation.

What are the biggest challenges facing energy managers today, more generally?

If I talk to people in the industry, and from my own experience, it seems that the biggest challenges are keeping on top of legislation, keeping on top of new technology and managing your resource time.

A lot of new energy directives are coming in from the EU and government – some of which are great. If you look at the CRC scheme, that’s put energy and carbon on the boardroom agenda which it wouldn’t have been previously. But government could do a better job of informing and educating companies on what the changes mean to them.

Do you think enough is being done in the UK to incentivise businesses to invest in energy saving measures, and to encourage people in general to change their behaviour?

I know there’s quite a large treasure chest of energy saving schemes, such as the RHI and the feed-in tariff and so on, but what it boils down to is unless you’re an accountant, technician or engineer, it can be very confusing for businesses, and even for certified energy managers. Government processes need to be simpler.

More needs to be done in terms of educating and engaging business and encouraging people to become more energy aware. If you look at reports like the Carbon Trust, they say that 20% of energy demand in the UK could be saved by turning the lights off and shutting doors and identifying energy wastage. There needs to be a nationwide shift in behaviour – kind of like the Dig For Victory programme in the war. There was a huge change in psyche then, and more needs to be done now to get people to where they wouldn’t have gone on their own.

Image Credit

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LuxLive 2013

Sophie Danby — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 23:17:15 +0000

Last year’s conference

We are excited to announce that Energy Demand and the EMA will be a Partner at this year’s LuxLive 20-21 November at Earls Court, London.

The UK’s biggest lighting event provides a unique opportunity to meet the world’s biggest brands, hear from experts in more than 70 hours of free talks and be inspired by the latest tech in new, dynamic, interactive features.

Best of all, this event is completely FREE to attend. Simply register for your pass here.

LuxLive 2013 offers:

2 full days of networking with global, industry experts, practitioners, educators, companies and consultants
Over 70 presentations, delivered by experienced users, consultants and subject specialists in all areas of lighting
The lighting industry’s largest exhibition, showcasing the latest products and services from the world’s leading manufacturers

Presentations:

From retail case studies around LED lighting installations, to Dragon’s Den style pitches of innovative lighting technology, the event programme has something for everyone.

There will be a comprehensive series of sessions which examine the benefits of low energy lighting, revealing how the latest technology can result in huge energy reduction and impressive cost savings. These talks will include a look at the latest exemplar projects across a number of different sectors including: Healthcare, Retail, Education and more. Come armed with questions and leave with plenty of answers.

You can also hear from the EMA’s very own, Lord Rupert Redesdale. Catch his presentation at 12.30pm in the EcoLight Theatre on Wednesday 20th November, entitled “Could Energy Performance Contracting Lead to a Revolution in Lighting?”

Meet us there:

If you would like to schedule a catch up and/or one-on-one meeting with us at the conference please [email protected]">email me. We are interested in hearing from all attendees whether you are a company, end-user, consultant or other!

We hope to see you there!

Event Summary

WHAT

LuxLive 2013

WHERE

Earls Court, London

WHEN

Wednesday 20^th November: 0900 – 2100 hrs

Thursday 21^st November: 0900 – 1700 hrs

BOOKING

Free to attend, just register for a pass.

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Technology Strategy Board seeks energy managers for fun times…

Rachel Parkes — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:00:24 +0000

The government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is about to launch a £4 million funding competition to look at advanced energy management solutions for existing buildings – and it is looking for participants amongst the energy management community.

Due to open in October, the competition will award between £300,000 and £1 million in grant funding to a number of consortiums willing to carry out R&D work into energy management solutions to their buildings, with the twin aims of stimulating innovation in energy efficiency and offering UK firms the opportunity to develop cutting edge technology and solutions.

Each consortium must be collaborative and led by a business, and should include at least one business that provides solutions for energy management, such as an energy management consultancy or a technology provider. The TSB is also encouraging consortia to include a potential customer for their energy management innovation as well as researchers from relevant academic or research organisations.

According to the TSB, most of the funding will be allocated to industrial research, which will attract funding of up to 60% of project costs, while some experimental development will attract funding of up to 35%.

Consortium brokering

The Energy Managers Association (EMA) is collaborating with TSB to host a consortium brokering workshop in London on 20 September, while TSB will also be hosting a briefing event online on 23 October.

The competition opens to applicants on October 14, 2013, with a closing date for expressions of interest of 27 November. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit a more detailed proposal by 23 January.

EMA member Whitbread is currently taking part in a similar TSB study to measure the energy performance of new-build projects against the original designs. Due to conclude in April 2014, the two-year study will see TSB publish a detailed report which will be made available to the wider energy management community.

Chris George, head of energy and environment at Whitbread, said that the study had already yielded significant results for the company, for example flagging up inefficiencies in the use of fryers at one of its Beefeater sites.

“I would really encourage members to take it up,” he told Energy Demand. “It does take some resource time and meetings, of course, but some of the benefits, even those early on, have been really substantial.”

Image Credit

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DONG extends power supply services to business customers

Rachel Parkes — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 15:07:18 +0000

DONG Energy is to offer electricity supply services to its business customers, following a successful pilot project to supply power to a UK ceramics manufacturer.

The move is a first for DONG, which has until now limited its activity in the UK commercial supply market to gas. The company supplies gas to around 11% of the industrial and commercial market.

Available since September, the new service offers business customers a power supply that can be tailored to their needs. Customers can choose which cost elements of their contract are fixed and which are flexible, ensuring that customers only take on the risks they are comfortable with, DONG said, adding that, as there are no minimum clip sizes, the service could also be of benefit to business customers with smaller energy requirements.

All customers will receive a detailed breakdown of consumption and all costs at meter level with each monthly invoice.

Interestingly, businesses looking to boost their low-carbon supply will also be able to fix exactly how much of their supply is from renewables – from 0-100%. DONG, which has stakes in a number of major wind farms in the UK, claims that renewable energy supplied to its business customers will be directly traceable to its wind farms.

Clarity and transparency

The company began trialling its power supply service late last year with Steelite, a ceramics manufacturer that supplies tableware to the hospitality sector. Steelite, which supplies giants such as Pizza Express and TGI Fridays, uses around 12GWh of power a year at its Stoke-on-Trent pottery.

“Business energy costs have seen a dramatic rise in recent years and now form a substantive part of any organisation’s bottom line,” said Mike Hogg, managing director of DONG Energy’s sales division. “Effective energy management and optimising spend has therefore moved up the boardroom agenda and, with increasing environmental responsibilities and renewable energy targets, this is set to continue.”

He added: “Our research indicated that companies would welcome more clarity and transparency around pricing, as well as simple documentation, timely and accurate billing, and accessible account management.”

With energy suppliers in the UK under pressure to improve their management of customer billing and contracting – a recent report from the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change suggested that overly complex billing is undermining trust in the energy sector – DONG is keen to drive home its message that it is a trustworthy supplier.

Davin Bates, Steelite’s management accountant gave his voice in support of the new service in this respect. “I’ve never had to query anything on our bills and, with so much mistrust in the energy market, I’m glad it’s not something I have to worry about,” he said.

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E.ON buys energy management firm Matrix

Rachel Parkes — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 09:05:41 +0000

Energy supplier E.ON has agreed to buy out UK energy management consultancy Matrix for an undisclosed sum, as part of efforts to broaden its presence in the growing energy efficiency market.

Founded in 2003, Matrix specialises in “data-led” energy efficiency solutions for commercial buildings for a customer base that is made up largely of blue chip corporates and public sector organisations. The company remotely configures and controls building management systems – a total of 31,000 data connections across 22 countries – for its customers from its energy management centre in Glasgow.

“E.ON and Matrix have a shared belief that continuous innovation and advanced data-analytics are critical to offering best in class energy efficiency solutions internationally allowing large organisations to monitor and control remotely sites in multiple geographies,” the companies said in a joint statement.

E.ON claims that Matrix has already cut its customers’ energy use by 40%, through the use of advanced metering and building energy management technologies.

“Building our presence”

The German company intends to buy Matrix through its energy management services unit, E.ON Connecting Energies, which was founded in 2012 to offer its commercial, industrial and public sector customers an energy efficiency service as well as a supply service.

E.ON Connecting Energies currently has six EnPCs under contract, including contracts for Ealing Council and Newham Hospitals NHS Trust in London, with a further 10 in the pipeline.

“This agreement allows us to expand our position in the business energy efficiency market, building on our presence in consultancy and on-site generation,” a spokesman for E.ON Connecting Energies told Energy Demand.

Matrix, meanwhile, wants to take advantage of E.ON’s international presence to infiltrate the global energy efficiency marketplace. “E.ON has the international presence as well as the breadth and depth of energy technology expertise that will allow us to move from a leading national player to a leading global player in the B2B energy efficiency space,” said Matrix’s CEO, Ian Kelly.

Subject to Austrian merger control clearance, the deal is expected to close in October. Matrix employs 340 staff across nine sites.

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SenseLogix unveils electrical sub-meter range

Rachel Parkes — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:04:51 +0000

Energy monitoring firm SenseLogix has revealed its new range of electrical sub-meters, in an effort to ensure that energy managers without existing onsite sub-metering equipment will be able to run the company’s energy management software.

The company’s EnergyLogix energy management platform is designed to take readings from any brand of sub-meter to measure where energy is being used within a building. However, SenseLogix found that many of its clients did not have sub-meters installed, prompting the company to develop its own range.

“At SenseLogix we try to utilise onsite equipment at all times to ensure our solutions are always practical and cost effective,” said David Hall, SenseLogix sales and marketing director. “However, often, equipment is not available, so by being able to offer our own meters as part of an energy management solution we are able to give our clients a greater continuity of service.”

Active monitoring

The new range includes a mix of panel mounts and Din rail mounted products that will be sold under SenseLogix’s EnergyLogix product brand.

Hall added: “This new range of meters will cover the majority of sub metering needs across a wide range of building types. The meters are designed and manufactured in the UK and come with a 5 year guarantee, so our customers can be assured of the quality of our products.”

Sub-meters are installed onto smaller components of a building – for example switchboards, equipment, data centres and IT servers – enabling energy managers to see where energy is being used and wasted.

According to SenseLogix, an active targeting and monitoring programme can shave off between 8-16% of energy use.

The news comes weeks after SenseLogix was appointed as an energy performance contractor for Harrogate Borough Council to monitor energy performance across the organisation’s swimming pools and leisure centres.

The contract will see SenseLogix provide sub-metering, monitoring and targeting services, as part of the council’s efforts to cut its carbon emissions by 40% by 2020.

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Ofgem reforms rules for energy suppliers’ handling of SMEs

Rachel Parkes — Thu, 12 Sep 2013 10:00:19 +0000

Andrew Wright, Ofgem CEO

New rules governing how energy suppliers manage their SME customers have come into force, as part of regulator Ofgem’s efforts to provide smaller businesses with more protection in the energy market.

Ofgem’s new Standards of Conduct requires suppliers to treat small business – defined as firms spending up to £10,000 per year on each fuel– fairly when they are billing and contracting and when the firms switch suppliers.

The regulator is also extending to these SMEs two protections previously limited to business customers spending less than £5,000 per year per fuel: the one-year limit on automatic rollover contracts, which will come into force from the end of March 2014, and mandatory access for businesses to clear information about supply contracts. The extensions will allow an additional 160,000 companies to benefit from the protections, Ofgem said, and allow SMEs to shop around for better deals.

The new rules also require suppliers to act quickly to rectify mistakes, and to make businesses fully aware of contract terms and conditions. And, from the end of March 2014 suppliers will have to accept a termination notice at any time before the 90-day notice period prior to the end of a fixed term contract.

Ofgem has been issued with powers to levy fines against suppliers which do not comply, the regulator said.

Business concerns

“Two thirds of all the concerns businesses have about the market relate to billing, contracting and switching supplier, which is why our Standards of Conduct target these three areas,” said Andrew Wright, Ofgem’s chief executive. “The onus is now on suppliers to make sure they stick to these standards and get their customer service right.”

Two of the UK’s suppliers, British Gas and E.ON, have already limited their use of automatic roll-over contracts. The contracts will no longer be used in relation to E.ON’s SME customers, while British Gas has ditched automatic roll-overs for all of its business customers.

However, Ofgem indicated that it had no plans to introduce reforms for larger businesses.

“We found larger businesses have energy specialists who work for them, who carry out procurement for them,” a spokesman told Energy Demand. “So we have targeted these reforms at the smaller businesses which needed more protection.”

However, David Mason, senior sustainability manager at Skanska, warned that Ofgem needs to ensure that all businesses are able to get most competitive energy deal – whether they have an energy manager or not.

“These changes highlight the important role an energy manager plays in ensuring a company gets the best deal with its energy suppliers,” he told Energy Demand. “However, it should be a fair playing field and the regulatory environment should reflect that.”

Moreover, he added, small businesses should not be duped into thinking that the new rules will exempt them from looking at their energy consumption.

“Although it is unlikely that a small business could afford an energy professional, these reforms only cover procurement,” he said. “All businesses should be taking energy management seriously as there is a lot to be gained from energy efficiency and reducing unnecessary consumption. For the small business there is a lot of free advice and support which can be accessed.”

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