Marketing Cool Storage Technology

Abstract

With the general increase in electricity rates, commercial and industrial customers have become strongly motivated to seek methods of achieving reductions in electric bills. At the same time, electric utilities have been faced with rising construction costs, more stringent regulations, and increasing environmental constraints regarding development of new generating facilities. As the viability of cool storage has been substantiated by research conducted by Electric Power Research Institute, and by numerous installations, it has become acknowledged that cool storage can provide substantial benefits to utilities and end-users alike. A need was recognized for a means to provide for technology transfer and dissemination of current information in the field. The International Thermal Storage Advisory Council was formed to help meet this perceived need. This paper will review activities of EPRI and ITSAC to achieve widespread acceptance of the technology.