Utility seeks training to communicate value of energy efficiency

Editor's note: The Energy Services Bulletin features real answers to real questions posed to our staff at the Energy Services Power Line. We hope you find it useful.

Question:

Is training available for utility staff who "sell" energy-efficiency projects to commercial and industrial customers? Topics might include return on investment criteria used by CEOs to evaluate potential projects.

Answer:

Before you select someone to provide training, you may want to evaluate your current program to determine what is working and what isn't. If your program is not meeting your expectations, ask yourself some hard questions:

• Do we know our market? Who are the big players? Are we talking to the right people?
  

• Are we talking with customers at the right time? Are energy-efficiency measures being suggested too late in the project to be implemented? Is there some way we could anticipate projects more proactively?
  

• Are people resistant to talk with us? If so, why?
  

• If customers seem receptive, yet still don't accept our proposals, should we try a different approach?
  

• Is our analysis thorough and sound, and, perhaps most importantly, presented in an understandable way?
  

• Do we have good relationships with our customers?
  

• Are customers in our service area generally aware of our energy-efficiency programs? If not, why not?

The type of training you have in mind will most likely need to be customized to your situation. If you can identify any specific areas of weakness ahead of time, you can target those areas to make the training more effective.

Training from industry groups

The following organizations may offer courses that meet your needs, or should be able to make recommendations:

• Utility Energy Forum, a non-profit consortium of utility professionals, frequently co-sponsors workshops with a marketing focus, like the Geothermal Heat Pump workshop. Contact Guy Nelson to learn more about scheduled events.
  

• Northwest Public Power Association provides training and education, public information, communication, Federal legislative coordination, surveys, data and networking opportunities and products and services for the utility industry.

• Northwest Energy Education Institute, at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., offers certification courses in Energy Management, Building Operator Certification and BPA Residential Certification, as well as customized, on-site training. The institute can even help with the type of analysis mentioned above to help you figure out what your strongest needs are.

• APPA Utility Education provides affordable training programs and educational services to keep members abreast of industry changes, upgrade skills and enhance customer and energy services.

Life-cycle cost analysis tools

If you are looking for some fairly sophisticated financial tools to present the anticipated returns in a clear manner, check out the U.S. Department of Energy's free software collection. For example, MotorMaster+ software has a complete analysis module built into it that can calculate the life-cycle cost, ROI, net present value and, of course, payback for virtually any energy-efficiency motor project.

Tenant-occupied commercial property a "hard sell"

A challenging sector to penetrate is tenant-occupied commercial property. This ownership/occupant model has traditionally been a difficult market for utilities promoting significant energy-efficiency measures.

Property managers are typically interested in reducing their capital and operating costs to maximize profits. Capital investments that improve the building's appearance or provide convenience for tenants are often seen as having more value than energy-efficiency measures. Tenants, on the other hand, though they are paying utility costs, often have very little capital. Also, those on short-term leases may not be around to realize a benefit from energy-efficiency measures with long paybacks.

The Energy Savers Program, one of the most successful programs for this market, started in 2002 and is still in place in California. The Small Business Energy Alliance runs the program and designed it specifically to serve the "hard-to-reach" market: small commercial customers (under 500 kW) outside the major metropolitan areas. The program has been particularly successful with customers who are leasing their property with a medium- to long-term lease. Call the Energy Saver Hotline at 800-881-7232 to learn more about this program.

Winning over managers

The following articles have a number of useful ideas for selling energy efficiency to the audience you are targeting. Don't be put off because they are several years old. Unlike technical issues, the concerns managers have about investing in any project remain much the same from year to year. Those that may be of particular interest to your utility staff include:

• "Making a More Compelling Energy Efficiency Case to Management," by Miriam Pye and Aimee McKane, Proceedings from the 1999 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry. Washington, D.C., American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, July 1999.
  
  

• "Selling an Energy Project to Management," by Steve Bolles, Energy Matters, July/August 2000.
  
  

• "Presenting an Energy Management Project to Management," Energy Matters, Winter 2003.
  
  

• BestPractices - Corporate Energy Management Case Studies. These case studies are aimed at corporate-level decision-makers and will help them examine the bottom-line benefits that result from successful applications of energy-efficient practices and technologies.

Note: Western's Power Line eNews is a monthly distribution of information and news from Energy Experts. It contains news, events, the latest Power Line Q&A and much more. Subscribe for e-mail delivery. If you have questions contact the Power Line at 800-769-3756.

Resources

Geothermal Heat Pump workshop

Northwest Public Power Association

Northwest Energy Education Institute

APPA Utility Education

DOE Industrial Technologies Program free software

MotorMaster+ software

Energy Savers Program

Small Business Energy Alliance

Making a More Compelling Energy Efficiency Case to Management

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Selling an Energy Project to Management

Presenting an Energy Management Project to Management

BestPractices - Corporate Energy Management Case Studies

Energy Experts

Power Line eNews subscription

Power Line

People

Guy Nelson

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