Commercial and Industrial Companies Gain Big Value via Big Data View of Energy and Sustainability Trends

Ecova, a total energy and sustainability management company, today released its second annual Big Data Look at Energy Trends: 2008-2012 report. The report draws from Ecova’s Big Data Warehouse, which contains over 2.5 billion points of data from more than 700,000 facilities. This year’s analysis, specifically pulled from 150,000 facilities, shows a decrease in total electric consumption intensity of 8.8 percent and a 6 percent decrease in peak demand. From a vertical view, many retail organizations (including Medium Box Retail, Small Box Retail, and Mercantile Malls) have slashed more than 12 percent of consumption from their portfolios since 2008.

The report gives other major commercial and industrial companies timely benchmarks for their own trend analysis. Organizations that leverage benchmarking understand how they are performing against the average, and then use the data to drive additional operational improvements and savings.

“Energy costs are top-of-mind for many executives, and while many companies are making significant strides in cost and consumption reduction, there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Jeff Heggedahl, CEO, Ecova. “Measuring against Ecova’s benchmarks will enable companies to evaluate how they are performing in comparison to peers. Data is critical to implementing a successful energy management strategy. It empowers intelligent decision-making, which helps organizations prioritize resources on high-impact projects.”

What does this benchmark mean for energy managers?

Current economic conditions and environmental climate shifts are driving the need for serious energy cost and consumption reduction programs. The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that commercial facilities account for 36 percent of all U.S. electricity consumption and cost more than $190 billion in energy every year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently found that 30 percent of the energy used in these buildings is wasted. Improving efficiency has the potential to create tens of billions of dollars in savings. This year, Ecova’s analysis concludes that consistent industry benchmarking coupled with other energy and sustainability initiatives produces measurable consumption reduction results for commercial and industrial facilities.

Highlights from Big Data Look at Energy Trends: 2008-2012

• Ecova clients experienced a three-times higher rate of total consumption reduction compared to commercial facilities as reported in data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
• The study shows a decrease in total electric consumption of 8.8 percent.
• In conjunction with the reduction in electricity consumption, the study reveals a corresponding 6 percent reduction in peak demand. This shows that organizations are making significant investments in hardware and behavioral changes to reduce peak demand.
• The cost of electricity has decreased between 2008 and 2012; however, there are wide variances between regulated and deregulated markets. In deregulated markets the study uncovers a decrease in electric prices of 14 percent; however, in regulated markets, electric prices have increased 4 percent.
• Natural gas prices have exhibited a much steeper drop of 36 percent since 2008.
• Energy usage has declined in all vertical markets except Healthcare (Inpatient).
• Water and sewer prices have climbed by almost 30 percent since 2008.

How we compiled this data

For this benchmark report, Ecova gathered insights from its Energy Data Warehouse that leverages information and daily detailed insight from more than 25,000 MW of electricity demand reaching back more than a decade. The Energy Data Warehouse incorporates consumption and cost data from just over 8 percent of the total U.S. commercial and industrial electric load, making Ecova’s energy management portfolio among the largest in the United States.

Download a copy of the complete Big Data Look at Energy Trends: 2008-2012 report here.

New Ecova benchmarking service

To make the power of this big data actionable for clients, in the fall of 2013 Ecova will expand its Energy Performance Report service to include vertical peer market data from the Ecova Data Warehouse. The new service will allow for local and regional peer energy performance comparisons, providing greater benchmarking options for clients who currently use Ecova’s Energy Performance Reporting service. New features such as mapping will allow drill down into regional benchmarking and ranking by square footage, giving Ecova clients a greater ability to identify and take action to solve their energy management challenges.

About Ecova

Ecova is the total energy and sustainability management company whose sole purpose is to see more, save more, and sustain more for its clients. Using insights based on consumption, cost and carbon footprint data spanning thousands of utilities, hundreds of thousands of business sites and millions of households, Ecova provides fully managed, technology-optimized solutions for saving resources, which in turn increase returns, lower risks, and enhance reputations. Ecova is the largest non-regulated subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA and avistacorp.com). For more information, visit the company’s website at ecova.com, on LinkedIn at linkd.in/ecovainc, or follow Ecova on Twitter at @ecovainc.

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