Tag Archives: energy efficiency

National Grid LogoIn a recent press release, National Grid congratulated its customers in Massachusetts (#1), New York (#3) and Rhode Island (#7) for ranking among the top ten states for energy efficiency.  Stanley Energy is proud to have two New England states in this top ten list! You can read the full text of the press release below:

Building on its 25-year history of award winning energy efficiency programs, National Grid is proud to congratulate its customers and the states where it provides electric and natural gas service for their achievement of making the list of the top 10 states in energy efficiency. The 2012 American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy state rankings place Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island among the most energy efficient states in the country. This is the second consecutive first place finish for Massachusetts after unseating California for the top spot in 2011.

“Everyone involved in creating the policies and programs leading to this recognition, as well as our customers who have invested in energy efficiency measures, should be proud to know that incredible savings have been realized for energy consumers and the environment,” said Tom King, president, National Grid in the U.S. “Not only are our customers saving on their energy bills, but millions of tons of pollutants have been prevented from entering our environment due to the success of our energy efficiency incentives.”

In 2011 National Grid’s electric and natural gas energy efficiency programs served nearly 1.8 million of our customers in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. The combined lifetime savings to be realized by customers through these programs is estimated at more than $1.35 billion dollars. Electricity savings in 2011 alone were enough to power more than 118,000 homes. Natural gas saved would have heated 10,700 homes for one year.

In the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2011, National Grid’s energy efficiency programs in Massachusetts served more than one million electric customers and 275,000 natural gas customers. The company’s combined energy efficiency programs resulted in program lifetime savings of an estimated $847 million on an investment of $176 million. The annual energy savings for electric customers was nearly 343,000 megawatt-hours, or enough electricity to power more than 57,000 homes for one year. Natural gas efficiency programs resulted in savings of 9.8 million therms. That’s enough energy to heat more than 6,000 homes for one year.

Savings by State
During the same period, National Grid’s energy efficiency programs in New York served more than 144,000 electric customers and 110,000 natural gas customers. The company’s combined energy efficiency programs resulted in program lifetime savings of an estimated $313 million on an investment of $86 million. The annual energy savings for electric customers was over 272,000 megawatt-hours, or enough electricity to power more than 45,000 homes for one year. Natural gas efficiency programs resulted in savings of over 6.4 million therms. That’s enough energy to heat more than 4,000 homes for one year.

Savings in Rhode Island are equally impressive considering that the company serves fewer customers in Rhode Island compared to Massachusetts. The company’s energy efficiency programs for electricity and natural gas served almost 260,000 electric and natural gas customers. The combined programs resulted in program lifetime savings of approximately $198 million on an investment of $38 million in the programs.

Total electricity savings for National Grid customers in Rhode Island in 2011 was more than 96,000 megawatt-hours, or enough to power 16,000 homes for one year. The savings in therms among gas customers in Rhode Island was 1.2 million therms. That’s enough natural gas to warm more than 700 households for one year.

The programs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island prevented more than 350,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the environment. That’s equivalent to taking 70,000 cars off the road.

NATIONAL GRID
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE:NGG) is an electricity and gas company that connects consumers to energy sources through its networks. The company is at the heart of one of the greatest challenges facing our society – to create new, sustainable energy solutions for the future and developing an energy system that underpins economic prosperity in the 21st century. National Grid holds a vital position at the center of the energy system and it ‘joins everything up’.

In the northeast US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles. In Great Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country.

National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. It manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation, providing power to over one million LIPA customers. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

For more information please visit our website: http://www.nationalgridus.com.

bag of profitsBusiness owners and property managers are under constant business pressure to improve tenant services, make their buildings more “Energy Efficient” and accomplish all of this while reducing operating expenses year-over-year. For these reasons (and others), they are always looking for ways to save energy.

These “opposing” objectives bring to light the business challenges faced by business owners each and every day.  They are too busy to focus on energy efficiency with so many other things interrupting their daily activities.  When the Utility bills arrive, they just pay them and move on, as they are keenly aware of the impact on operating costs.

Business owners have a general understanding of how much the utilities cost each month but they are not necessarily aware of how those costs convert into consumption of kilowatts, kilowatt hours, Therms, gallons or cubic feet.

For example, this baseline tracking brings to light why the electricity usage might be high on a weekend when:

  • The factory is closed but the heat and air conditioning are BOTH running with no-one in the building!
  • An air compressor is running when no machines are operating.
  • The lights are on in the building at midnight when there is no second shift.
  • Every desktop computer monitor is left on when the entire staff goes home for the evening.
  • Common area lighting remains on all weekend. A potential for additional savings exists with the installation of motion sensors and conversion to compact florescent lighting.

The path to reducing energy expenses is best served by using energy management software as a service to establish a baseline energy consumption profile.   This easily tracks and monitors the costs of energy and the volume of kwHours and natural gas therms consumed by buildings, and begins to analyze why certain things are happening.

For business owners and property managers to begin saving money on their energy bills, they should consider these and other methods to pay less for energy as well as use less energy.