Appendix D of the XCEL Hiawatha Project is the only superficial need assessment done. Basically, for conservation, the XCEL study only looked at current existing XCEL conservation programs which are admittedly pathetic.
At 2006 peak feeder circuit loading levels in the Focused Study Area, there was a total of 331 MW of customer demand and a deficit of 55 MW under single contingency operating conditions. To eliminate the 55 MW deficit, conservation and DSM programs would need to eliminate approximately 17% of existing load on the distribution system in the Focused Study Area, which is a substantial amount of load reduction and unlikely to be achievable through these programs.
(XCEL)
So let's assume that XCEL has covered insulation, weather stripping, double windows, good sealing doors and energy star appliances.
Now, let's just start stacking up the peak conservation methods that we could be using!
1) Offload energy usage from peak times to night times through thermal energy storage (TES).
Air conditioning and process cooling loads are key contributors to this peak electrical demand problem. Approximately 35% to 40% of the peak electrical demand for large commercial office and institutional buildings is air conditioning related.
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can eliminate approximately 60% to 80% of the peak electrical demand related to air conditioning for many large
commercial office and institutional buildings by transferring most of that air conditioning energy use to the previous night. TES is a proven technology that began over 80 years ago, when electricity prices were high, and electrical systems were unreliable.
Description
TES acts as a storage battery for air conditioning systems - the cooling is done at night, when electrical demand is low and generation or transmission and delivery capacity constraints are minimized. This cooling energy is
stored in a tank for use the next afternoon. During the afternoon, the main air conditioning equipment is shut off. The cooling is then supplied to the building by the "battery", thus reducing the power usage during peak hours
(when electrical demand is at its highest and power generation equipment efficiency is at its worst).
One key difference between this "air-conditioning battery" and a typical battery is that the air-conditioning battery is over 130% efficient - it takes far less source and site energy to charge the air conditioning battery at night
when it is cool than it would take to run the air-conditioning system on hot afternoons, when power plant and air-conditioning equipment are at their poorest efficiency levels.
(ROI Engineering)
2) Higher peak energy pricing of course encourages people to use electricity at off hours.
3) Plant trees strategically on the south sides of houses to shade roofs!
Urban shade trees offer significant benefits in reducing building air-conditioning demand and improving urban air quality by reducing smog. The savings associated with these benefits vary by climate region and can be up to $200 per tree.
(Science Direct)
4) Use white roofs!
A study released September 9, 2008 by scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California quantified what traditional builders have known for centuries: that white roofs help deflect the sun's hot rays and reduce the indoor temperature of the building below. In air-conditioned houses, a reflective white roof helps reduce the amount of heat that reaches the inside of the house, reducing the need for air conditioning. In houses without air conditioning, a white roof keeps the house more comfortable on hot days.
(Saving Energy)
5) Use air-conditioning savings time instead of daylight savings time.
By shifting two hours, people will actually come home when the temperature is cooling off saving energy.
Residential load, however, typically reaches its peak later in the day and usually occurs between 4 and 6 p.m. as people return home from work and school for the day.
(XCEL)
In principle, the smart grid is a simple upgrade of 20th century power grids which generally "broadcast" power from a few central power generators to a large number of users, to instead be capable of routing power in more optimal ways to respond to a very wide range of condition
(wiki)
6) Get smart power strips to actually turn off appliances that still use electricity when powered off.
They are half of our appliances, electronic equipment and associated chargers that suck down power even when they're turned off, in sleep or standby mode. A typical house hosts around 50 such insomniacs, and though individual devices use minuscule amounts of electricity, in the aggregate they're an astonishing and pricey burden.
This "vampire energy loss" represents between 5 and 8 percent of a single family home's total electricity use per year, according to the Department of Energy.
(Salon)
So even before using alternative energy, XCEL has not really considered a conservation option at all. |
