Overview: This webinar provides you with a step-by-step approach to achieving energy independence at your facility, covering the strategies and technologies you can use to reduce costs, improve sustainability, and minimize outages. You can learn about energy usage assessment, renewable generation sources, and the future of energy independence through microgrids.
Speakers: Dan Nordloh is senior vice president / general manager and Mike Collom is director of strategic accounts at EnTech, a leading provider of innovative energy management solutions. EnTech specializes in delivering comprehensive business solutions to optimize energy usage, reduce costs and enhance sustainability.
This webinar will benefit businesses operating in commercial and industrial sectors that rely on reliable and continuous power, and anyone in those organizations responsible for energy management, sustainability, and cost optimization.
The Importance of Reliable Power
In the current energy landscape, businesses are increasingly dependent on reliable and continuous power. Predictable energy costs and operational flexibility are areas of concern for all of us, and the challenges of managing costs, ensuring resilience, and maintaining sustainability are significant.
Your operational costs are impacted by: energy rates, energy use, and demand charges
Your resilience is impacted by: the frequency and business impact of outages and your management of critical loads
Your sustainability is impacted by: your source and method of power generation.
What is the Path to Smarter Energy?
The Path to Smarter Energy is a step-by-step guide for customers on an energy journey. It takes them from energy conservation best practices to energy storage and independence while aligning with their operational, financial, and sustainability goals.
Step 1: Energy Usage Assessment
The first step in this journey is an energy usage assessment. Commercial and industrial sectors waste about 20% of their energy, often due to a lack of visibility into their energy usage. A well-designed metering and monitoring system can help optimize energy usage, reduce unplanned outage occurrences due to power quality & overload conditions, drive sustainability goals, and protect equipment attached to the electrical system.
Step 2: Energy Conservation
Once your energy usage is defined, the next step is planning for energy conservation. Metering can provide precise guidance on when and how to conserve energy. Lowering peaks, turning off equipment when it doesn't need to be on, and putting loads on a setback mode can all contribute to energy conservation, reducing not only costs but also emissions.
Step 3: Determine Renewable Generation Sources
When energy conservation methods have been established you can begin to plan for the generation of your own renewable energy � typically either solar or wind. Energy modeling can help you determine if solar or wind makes sense for you, and the potential for cost savings, whether through offsetting your energy charges directly or net metering.
Step 4: Energy Storage & Independence
The final step towards energy independence involves energy storage. Grid-tied solar is not available when the grid goes down, making battery energy storage systems a key component in truly becoming independent from the grid or achieving net zero.
Microgrids: The Future of Energy Independence
Microgrids are actively managed energy generation and storage systems. They allow you to generate your own electricity from solar, harness and store generated electricity for later use, and continue operations when there is a power outage. Microgrids are beneficial in various applications, including remote communities, temporary power situations, and clean EV charging.
Continue your Energy Independence Journey
By leveraging distributed energy generation options, businesses can take control of their energy to meet their cost, sustainability, and utilization goals. The Path to Smarter Energy provides a comprehensive guide to achieving energy independence, improving sustainability, reducing outages, and lowering operating costs.
To learn more about specific ways that EnTech and Graybar can support you on your journey to energy independence, check out our webinar "Path to Smarter Energy".