Transforming Your Utility Business: Innovations and Strategies

Utilities are an essential part of running any business. Having reliable access to electricity, gas, water, sewage, and telecommunications allows a business to operate efficiently and provide high-quality products and services to customers.

However, the utility business is undergoing rapid change due to new technologies, regulations, and customer expectations. Business owners must adapt and implement innovative utility solutions to remain competitive in today's landscape.

This article explores key innovations transforming the utility business and strategies that business suppliers can use to optimize their utility operations.

Emerging Utility Technologies

Several new technologies are disrupting the traditional utility business model. Businesses can take advantage of these innovations to improve efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency.

Smart Meters

Smart meters record energy usage data digitally and transmit it wirelessly to the utility company. This enables two-way communication between the meter and utility, allowing for real-time monitoring of consumption patterns.

Smart meters allow businesses to track utility usage more granularly across facilities, equipment, and time periods. This data can be used to identify opportunities for energy savings and optimise commercial utilities operations.

Distributed Energy Resources

Onsite distributed energy resources like solar panels, batteries, fuel cells, and microgrids allow businesses to generate some of their own electricity. This increases resiliency in case of grid outages. It also reduces grid demand, saving money on costly peak charges.

Distributed resources can also provide backup power during outages to keep critical operations running.

EV Charging Infrastructure

Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent. Installing EV charging stations allows business essentials to accommodate EV-driving customers and employees. Smart chargers that optimise charging times and integrate with energy management systems can benefit the grid. 

Businesses can potentially even earn revenue by charging for public use of EV stations.

Energy Efficiency Technology

New lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, building automation, and industrial equipment technologies drastically reduce utility consumption. Upgrading to more energy-efficient models as old equipment reaches end-of-life can yield significant cost savings.

Energy Storage

Batteries and other energy storage technologies allow businesses to store any excess renewable energy generated onsite for use anytime. This provides flexibility in energy use and cost management. It can also provide emergency backup power.

Utility Management Strategies and Solutions

With new innovations transforming the utility landscape, businesses must adapt their strategies, operations, and relationships with utility companies. Here are some key ways business owners can optimise their business utility operations.

Energy Audits and Retrocommissioning

Conducting audits of all energy equipment, systems, and building envelopes helps identify efficiency opportunities. Retrocommissioning tunes up existing equipment for optimal performance.

Audits and retrocommissioning coupled with implementing recommended upgrades can reduce utility bills by up to 20% or more.

Metering and Submetering

Installing metering and submetering equipment provides visibility into energy and water usage at different facilities or individual process equipment and systems. This pinpoints the highest-use areas to target for efficiency improvements. It also allows for accurately benchmarking usage.

Load Shaping

Sophisticated energy management systems use real-time pricing data and smart meters to optimise when and how electric loads run to minimise costs. This may involve shifting demand to off-peak times, running high-demand equipment sequentially, dimming non-essential lighting, and temporarily turning off unused equipment.

Demand Response Programs

These utilities in business programs provide bill credits or other incentives for reducing electricity usage during periods of peak demand when prices are highest. Businesses can use load shaping and onsite generation to reduce demand when called upon and earn rewards.

Switching Suppliers

Energy deregulation allows commercial and industrial customers in many states to shop competitive suppliers for better rates. Comparing offerings to negotiate more favorable, flexible contracts can yield significant long-term utility savings.

Renegotiating Contracts

Business utility services can be renegotiated periodically to leverage new technologies and pricing options that create savings. Features like seasonal rates, time-of-use pricing, peak demand limits, and automatic demand response can optimise costs.

New Construction and Renovations

All new construction and renovations should be built to maximise energy and water efficiency. High-performance HVAC, lighting, windows, insulation, low-flow fixtures, and other green building strategies can minimise lifetime utility costs.

Renewable Energy Procurement

Utilities for business can procure some or all of their electricity from off-site wind, solar, or other renewable sources through power purchase agreements. Locking in affordable clean energy helps hedge against fossil fuel price volatility.

Waste Heat Recovery

Commercial heat pump water heaters, air source heat pumps, and wastewater heat recovery systems capture waste heat to save gas for water heating and space heating. Installation costs are usually recouped from energy savings in under 3 years.

Water Efficiency

Installing low-flow faucets and fixtures, efficient irrigation, native landscaping, greywater recycling, and commercial/industrial water process optimizations can reduce water and sewer bills.

Onsite Generation and Microgrids

Depending on electricity rates and incentives, installing solar, wind, fuel cells, microturbines, or combined heat and power systems onsite could reduce costs. Microgrids with onsite generation and storage provide energy resiliency.

Navigating the Evolving Utility Landscape

Today's complex and rapidly evolving utility environment provides new challenges and opportunities for business owners. Here are some key steps for navigating the utility landscape:

Understand Options

Continuously research the latest business utilities innovations, regulatory changes, and available programs. Learn how new technologies and strategies can impact your utility costs.

Perform Cost-Benefit Analysis

Do thorough cost-benefit and return on investment calculations for any utility technology or project under consideration. Factor in all incentives and tax credits.

Identify Funding and Financing

Explore available utilities company, state, and federal rebates, grants, and low-interest financing options to fund projects. These can improve ROI.

Engage Utility Company

Develop relationships with utility account representatives. Discuss needs and goals and learn about specialised programs for commercial customers.

Consider Partnerships

Some utility solutions like microgrids and onsite renewable energy may benefit from developing partnerships with other nearby businesses to share costs and resources.

Stay Compliant

Keep up-to-date and switch utilities regulations and rate schedules. File all required efficiency reports to maintain compliance and incentives.

Plan Ahead

Create long-term roadmaps accounting for equipment replacement cycles, EV infrastructure demands, energy mandates, and other utility impacts. Plan ahead to cost-effectively meet needs.

Conclusion

Modernizing utility operations is an ongoing process. Technology innovations, dynamic pricing, sustainability goals, resiliency concerns, and customer expectations are transforming the utilities business.

By leveraging new solutions and proactively managing relationships with utility companies, business owners can optimise costs while maintaining reliable services.

With a strategic approach, utilities can transition from being expenses to assets that provide long-term savings and competitive advantages. Companies that embrace the new utility paradigm will prosper; those that fail to adapt risk higher costs and disruption.

Utility transformation requires planning, partnerships, and persistence, but the payoff for your business makes it well worthwhile.