Re Electricity Costs: How Savvy Building Owners Can SAVE (If They Understand the Restructuring Power Industry)

Abstract

This article discusses the physical capabilities the building equipment must have in order to participate in real-time energy and reliability service markets. It also discusses the decision process the building operator will want to go through to minimize its energy costs, considering all of its options and costs. Since energy and contingency reserve prices are volatile, building owners and operators will want to move between these markets dynamically. It is likely that the decision process, while remaining under the building operators control, can be automated. Similarly, the requirements for price disclosure, communications, aggregation, monitoring, and certification on the bulk power system side are discussed. Finally, we discuss how the entire system could operate to the benefit of both the building owner and the power system. Restructuring of the electric power industry is presenting new opportunities that building owners and operators may wish to exploit. There are now more options than just average, seasonal, or time-of-use electricity prices. Bulk power markets now recognize that electricity prices change dramatically in real-time. Ancillary services (reliability services, such as short term contingency reserves) are also priced in real time. There are benefits to both the bulk power system and the individual customers when these markets are opened to participation by buildings. The bulk system benefits through the increased availability of reliability resources. Building owners and operators benefit through reduced energy costs, increased choice, and increased control over their own destiny. Les proprietaires ou exploitants de bâtiments peuvent reduire leur facture energetique, en utilisant les nouvelles possibilites du marche dereglemente. Ils peuvent concevoir et construire des systemes energetiques ayant une grande flexibilite, negocier des contrats tres flexibles pour leur approvisionnement energetique, gerer leur demande energetique en fonction de la variation en temps reel du prix de l'electricite, developper de petites capacites de production distribuee d'electricite ou d'accumulation de chaleur, qui peuvent etre revendues aux compagnies d'electricite lorsque le prix de l'electricite est eleve ou etre utilisees en cas de delestage.