Striving for Cost-effective Energy Information Solutions: Emerging Web-based Technologies Provide Hope!

Abstract

The internet is providing a cost-effective method of providing en-
ergy users with valuable information that enables them to better control
their energy usage. The days of relying solely on systems that are on-site
to provide this information have passed. The ability of off-site energy
managers to collect, process, and disseminate this information using
internet based e-mail and web pages accessible by the end user’s stan-
dard internet browser has become a much more attractive option.
While centrally monitored energy management is not new, it has
been used primarily by high-end users with dedicated staff to perform
the gathering and analysis functions. With low-cost internet communi-
cations available, this service can now be provided to a much broader
market. This market, consisting of K-12 school corporations, municipali-
ties, medium-sized commercial office buildings, and modest-sized retail
chains has been under-served by the energy management community,
except in regions with high-cost energy rates. While energy retrofit ac-
tivities have provided a significant amount of energy savings to much of
this market, there are more savings to be had in the operational and
system maintenance areas.
The only information that many of these under-served markets
have is monthly energy bills. They are generally used for billing only,
though some energy cost savings can be achieved by analyzing them
for mistakes or for rate change recommendations.