It's elementary

Store Equipment & Design, Nov, 2000 by Marc Sandofsky

National accounts brought up to speed at Edison Electric Institute conference.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) National Accounts Fall 2000 Workshop took place in Boston in September and attendees were given a perspective on the energy marketplace from the standpoint of the utilities, which EEI represents.

Steve Tilk, of Southern California Edison (SCE), Santa Ana, Calif., spoke on the California energy supply crisis, which he says was brought on by a combination of capacity shortages, extreme price volatility and regulatory, legislative and political actions.

Tilk placed much of the blame on the restructuring of the electric utility industry. He said utilities were discouraged from building plants that would increase competitive transition costs and that uncertainties over the restructuring caused potential new generators to delay projects. Furthermore, a strong economy led to an increased demand for power, while no new power plants were built for more than 10 years.

In San Diego, grocery store electricity prices went up 70 to 200 percent. That caused some stores to raise prices and lose sales, others to have layoffs, others to reduce operating hours and still others to consider closing. As a result, legislation was enacted to control energy prices. In addition, promises have been made to investigate potential wrongdoings and California has seen a renewed commitment to energy conservation.

Based on California's troubles, users may want to consider distributed generation (DG) opportunities, or at least to learn how to analyze them. That is exactly what Steve Rosenstock, manager of energy solutions for EEI, Washington, D.C., spoke on. He performed an analysis of a DG installation at a Blockbuster store, and listed the parameters he used in his analysis. These parameters form the basis of a detailed analytical methodology that can be used in similar DG applications. His parameters were:

1. What is the capital cost of the DG equipment? Efficiencies may be achieved in applications with multiple locations, he said.

2. How will the DG unit be paid for? The economics can change significantly depending upon the method.

3. What type of in-site infrastructure is needed for the system? Potential infrastructure components include fossil fuel storage, pumping capability to increase gas inlet pressure, exhaust systems for indoor units, and interconnection to the local grid.

4. Under what conditions will the equipment operate? The numbers change depending on loading and operational criteria.

5. For outdoor units, will the climate have an impact on the DG unit's performance? Corrosion protection, for example, will increase costs.

6. What are the current and projected costs for the fuels that will be used? The higher the projected fuel costs, the longer the pay back.

7. What are the current and projected costs for the electricity supplied to the facility? The higher the projected electric costs, the shorter the payback.

8. Is the economic analysis based on utility rates or emergency conditions? Emergency conditions may include items such as lost inventory and sales.

9. What are the key operation and maintenance issues? Is there automated start/stop? Are replacement parts readily available? What's the parts replacement schedule? What's the unit's service life?

After taking each of these parameters into account in the Blockbuster store, EEI concluded that a demand reduction strategy would be more beneficial than an energy reduction strategy.

Bruce Lindsay, of Comfort Systems USA, Tempe, Ariz., spoke on the effects of humidity on supermarkets and ways to reduce humidity levels. Supermarkets expend considerable amounts of energy controlling humidity as it necessitates periodic defrosting, door heaters, increased compressor use, and heating the store to combat overcooling. As solutions, he pointed to energy recovery wheels, desiccant systems, dual path systems, wraparound heat pipes, and standard DX systems set to overcool the space.