Turning Vision Into Reality Leveraging Technology and Culture to Realize Energy Savings at a Large Public Utility

摘要

The operating pressures faced by today's utilities include an increased focus on fiscal responsibility and cost reductions, combined with a higher and ever-increasing level of environmental quality standards. This puts a brighter spotlight and greater pressure on improving operational efficiency and optimizing the performance and operation of their facilities, which not only saves energy but makes them more environmentally sustainable. An energy audit is a process typically used to evaluate a system for such efficiency and the associated energy savings. Energy audits also provide the factual basis needed to support the establishment of a culture that focuses on energy efficiency as a core part of its decision-making model. When energy audits are performed for water and wastewater utilities, not only can electrical energy savings be achieved, but savings in other areas such as process chemical use or parasitic water losses may also realized. The energy audit and savings plan conducted for DC Water at their Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant and associated water, wastewater, and stormwater pumping stations provides a case study on how these audits should be conducted for maximum effectiveness and identification of a path forward toward realizing energy savings and carbon footprint reductions. Specific focus areas include.