ACT2 Project: Measuring Energy Savings

Abstract

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has initiated a major demonstration project to test the hypothesis that substantial energy efficiency improvements can be achieved in customer facilities at costs competitive with supply. This paper describes the initial pilot site design, focusing on how energy savings will be tracked and measured. The specific objective of the Advanced Customer Technology Test (ACT^2) for Maximum Energy Efficiency project is to provide scientific field test information, for use by PG&E and its customers, on the maximum energy savings possible, at or below projected competitive costs, by using modern high-efficiency end-use technologies in integrated packages acceptable to the customer. The project is a demand side demonstration analogous to a supply side demonstration, where near commercial advanced technologies are field-tested to determine actual economic and technical performance. PG&E has chosen a "Learn by Doing" approach in the development of the project design, technology design methods, and measurement and monitoring techniques. The project planning is being done in parallel to a "pilot demonstration", with the hope that our planning will be responsive to lessons learned in pilot demonstration. A design to maximize energy efficiency at the pilot demonstration site has been selected, and an energy monitoring system is being designed. The paper describes the pilot site design, the proposed monitoring system and the data processing and analysis system which will be used to collect and analyze the data.