ACEEE MT 2014Evaluating the Impact of Smart Grid on Efficiency Programs

Andy VotaDirector, Strategic Technology ServicesVermont Energy Investment Corporation, Efficiency Vermont

April 2014

About VEIC

• Private, nonprofit corporation founded in 1986

• Provides energy efficiency and renewable energy consulting and implementation services

• 300+ employees

• Locations: VT, DC, NJ, OH

Major Initiatives

Public PurposeEnergy Services Company

My Perspective @VEIC

• Support efficiency program implementation

• Lead team that develops and integrates software and analytical tools

• Major component of current work is on managing and utilizing AMI data to provide increased customer value and new and expanded efficiency opportunities

Significance of Smart Grid

• New efficiency opportunities• Demand response• Program EM&V• Customer engagement

Efficiency Opportunities

• Finer resolution AMI data gives us opportunity for better insights and deeper analysis• Examples: weekday vs. weekend use, 24 hour usage

patterns, loadshapes, heating and cooling loads • individual projects• more broadly by region, market segment

• What’s meaningful to implementers and customers is not the same

Interval Data Visualizations

Program EM&V, Planning

• Shorter feedback loops• More opportunities for analysis• Modeling and forecasting, program planning• Automated testing for expected results on projects

Demand Response

• Grid connected devices• Two way communication• Direct load control• Smarter appliances, systems for ongoing efficient

operation

Customer Engagement

• Insights, personalization• Empower and motivate• Demonstrating value from something opaque in a

clear and understandable way• Moving beyond traditional energy silos• Privacy• Information Security

Now, In Context

• Energy Efficiency Utility serving residential, commercial, small and medium businesses across Vermont

• Work across distribution utility territories

• Vermont has about 625k residents, about 350k utility accounts

• AMI meters deployed to 90%+ of electric customers• Focused on delivering services and value to ratepayers

Key questions on my mind

• What are the new efficiency opportunities available with this data?

• How do we turn data into insights and insights into real value for the ratepayers we serve?

• How do we communicate and demonstrate that value?

• How do we operationalize new tools in existing business processes?

• What can we do now that we couldn’t do before AMI and other data?

• What can others do now that they couldn’t do before?

Efficiency Vermont – where we’re going

• Data• More than just AMI – SG is how we refer to it, but it’s

about a broad and holistic view of data• Automating nightly data transfer• Building data platform • Bringing in additional data sources

• Analytics• R, Mathematica, Tableau• Business intelligence tool• Segmentation, predictive analysis• Operationalization

Efficiency Vermont – Where we’re going• Customer Engagement

• Home energy reports – 100k households• Portal• Customer service tools, reports• Behavioral demand response program in partnership

with Green Mountain Power• Anonymized , aggregated data sharing on website• Your energy data on a graph doesn’t cut it

Data Platform

• Nearly statewide energy usage data – AMI and monthly

• Unique position for Efficiency Vermont

• Third party data sources

• Program participation data

• Business intelligence tool

Data from many sources, old & new• AMI meters• Expanded sub-metering on commercial and

industrial projects• Connected devices like smart thermostats• Going deeper with existing customer data – program

participation, segmentation• Third party data sources

• Weather, demographic, parcel/building, public energy usage data

• Building benchmarking

Operations

• Marketing• Engineering• Program design and implementation• Regulatory, Policy, EM&V• New tools, new skills, eventually new roles• Data and analytics moving from supporting to

primary roles• Challenge: operationalization is key

Challenges

• Privacy and Security• New policies and approaches• Top to bottom review• About protecting people• Move from awareness, to understanding, to fully integrating into culture

• Consumer perspective• Deepening concerns over privacy; mismatch between expectations and

privacy concerns• For some: confusion about what smart grid is, whether it’s good or bad• For others: higher expectations for results – what did VT get for a $159M

spend?• More data, but the key challenge of providing meaning and value is the

same

Takeaways

• Think broadly about data and opportunities• Energy/AMI data is a key part, but it’s not the only

part• New opportunities, new risks• Landscape is changing

• Mass market behavioral, remote audits, connected devices, advanced analytics

• A fundamental shift?• Integrating services, data, tools, still a fundamental role

for EEU/Programs

Thanks

www.veic.orgefficiencyvermont.com

Andy Votaavota@veic.org(802) 540-7883