[Bldg-sim] Energy Prices (UNCLASSIFIED)

[David Eldridge]

Well, John requested "no caveats"...but...good point Nick, I have done
more work on larger Midwestern facilities, so those have tended to be
consistent with EIA data.  Your example is well taken that a smaller
facility might be expected to be higher than the EIA averages.

John, if the project is for LEED, the USGBC offers the EIA or a published
tariff as alternatives in the reference guide as Nick points out, and you
are certainly within your bounds to explore the options.  If the project
is an addition to an existing campus, you may also have a custom agreement
in place that will cover the project.  Be sure that you can document where
the rate comes from if you use it.

Also some states are deregulated electricity markets (such as Illinois) --
so even though you may find an applicable tariff (on ComEd's website as an
example) there are only a few customers that would use it.  Most larger
clients in these states are purchasing electric commodity through a retail
energy supplier and using only the delivery rate from the utility.

In locations where demand charges are high, a project that takes measures
to reduce peak energy usage and demand could show a higher savings using
the tariff, since the EIA data is flat-rate.  Definitely seek out the
actual information in these locations.

David



David S. Eldridge, Jr., P.E., LEED AP BD+C, BEMP, HBDP
Grumman/Butkus Associates



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Caton [mailto:ncaton at smithboucher.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 9:45 AM
> To: David Eldridge; Eurek, John S NWO
> Cc: bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> Subject: RE: [Bldg-sim] Energy Prices (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> If modeling for LEED, I would advise seeking out the rate schedules for
> the actual local utilities.  It's a little extra work (actually I've
> found the EIA site to be a pain to navigate in the past), but I suspect
> those averages take into account huge industrial facilities and
> government/military organizations with well-discounted rate structures
> atypically lower than those used for a typical building owner's bills.
> I've found plugging the actual rates in (for a few projects where I made
> this comparison) to generally increase the consumption/demand costs
> modeled, and often that can cause a better cost-based (i.e. LEED)
> performance rating.
>
> My $0.02,
>
> ~Nick
>
> NICK CATON, E.I.T.
> PROJECT ENGINEER
> Smith & Boucher Engineers
> 25501 west valley parkway
> olathe ks 66061
> direct 913 344.0036
> fax 913 345.0617
> www.smithboucher.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
> [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of David
> Eldridge
> Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 9:10 AM
> To: Eurek, John S NWO
> Cc: <bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>
> Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] Energy Prices (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> DOE's EIA site has these by state and utility (and user sector),
> suitable for LEED.
>