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Jeff Ihnen

Feb 15
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saved energy

Cost of Saved Energy – Drop it and Give Me Twenty

By Energy Rant 2 Comments
I was planning to write about industrial efficiency and the crimes of opting out this week, but while searching for supporting data, I found other interesting stuff; namely the cost of saved energy by state and by year. In 2009, ACEEE published a paper, Saving Energy Cost Effectively: A National Review of the Cost of Energy Saved Through Utility-Sector Energy Efficiency Programs (short titles are not one of their strong suits). A few years later they published an updated paper for the 2014 Summer Study For Energy Efficiency in Buildings. This one was called, Still the First Fuel: National Review…
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Feb 08
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segmentation

Segmentation with AESP, Featuring Mason Verger

By Energy Rant One Comment
This post contains wild ideas that sprouted during last week’s AESP National Conference in Phoenix. Specifically, it emanates from Brad Kates’ (Opinion Dynamics) presentation on evaluation by segmentation A comment by Susan Gilbert (Apogee) Comments from Elizabeth Titus’ (NEEP) panel, “The Future of Energy Efficiency Evaluation” Segmentation Segmentation, according to this simpleton, includes not only splitting customers by business and industry types but also by geographic and demographic factors. Segmentation terms include psychographic and firmographic. I don’t know about you, but my first visualization of psychographic includes stunts featured in the movie Hannibal. For instance, psychotic Mason Verger plotted revenge…
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Feb 01
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cpp

Clean Power Plan (CPP) – The Next Layer

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, we scratched the surface of demons in the Clean Power Plan (CPP) details.  Let’s see what lies on the second layer below. There are two methods for counting, scoring, and achieving compliance in the plan: mass based and rate-based plans.  To recap, mass based is the simpler of the two. For starters, it includes one metric: tons of CO2 emissions from stationary power suppliers.  The second is, I believe, far more complicated.  Why?  Glad you asked. The rate based approach would appear to be an itty bit more complicated, like steaming broccoli versus steaming carrots.  The only difference…
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Jan 25
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clean power plan

A Wee Bit of Clean Power Plan Knowledge

By Energy Rant No Comments
Everyone reading this knows about the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). You probably know the final rule was released in August 2015, and the plan calls for reducing CO2 emissions by 32% from a baseline of 2005 to the goal-achieving euphoria in 2030. From there, I’ll bet a survey for CPP knowledge falls like a Wile E Coyote Acme anvil.Answers to basic questions are very hard to find. The EPA’s website mainly provides fluff and spin describing how great the plan is and how flexible and easy it will be to “glide” to success. Instead, I conducted my research from…
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Jan 18
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internet

The Bogus Energy Internet of Things

By Energy Rant 3 Comments
You have experienced a slow internet. Your music starts chopping. The video stops streaming. You curse the hour glass and spinning donuts. You have never experienced a substantial dip in power speed. Yes; power has a speed, and it is 60 Hertz (Hz), or 60 cycles a second. The reason I can argue it is a speed is because it is governed by spinning generation, namely steam turbines, from which we still get over half our electricity. For-Instance Bogusness #1: Frequency Modulation Your computer doesn’t melt down; servers don’t melt down; switches, hubs, routers – all that internet stuff will…
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Jan 12
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Deemed Savings and the Variable Frequency Drive

By Energy Rant No Comments
In recent years, there has been a push by some intervenors and program implementers to move larger and larger, and riskier measures from custom efficiency into prescriptive buckets.  These include air handling system replacements, control system replacements, and of course, the variable frequency drive. To make sure everyone is on board, prescriptive savings are determined for a specific piece of equipment, or determined by preset formulae with some combination of stipulated (assumed) values and project-specific information.  This is opposed to custom savings calculations that are estimated by an engineer/philosopher according to the project specific application. Uncertainty If there are two…
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Jan 04
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Climate Change 1, Things Untold

By Energy Rant 3 Comments
Of fourteen categories of Rant topics, Climate Change scored a solid seventh place for subjects readers want to read about. I am certain you will find information in this post that you’ve never seen before. As “settled science”, it sure is difficult to find unbiased information on this subject. In science we have laws, which are held to be true because nobody can prove otherwise. These include the law of gravity.  Gravity on a planet or star is proportional to its mass. Others include the first law of thermodynamics (energy can change forms but never increases or decreases), second law…
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Dec 28
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Rant

The Rant, Behind the Scenes

By Energy Rant No Comments
This week, with the holiday slowdown, I am catching up on a bunch of stuff from the list of which would bore you. One that I don’t think will bore you is results and findings from the survey we launched a couple months ago. There were close to 100 respondents with the vast majority being from outside our firm. Thank you all for responding and congratulations to Elizabeth Titus (NEEP) for winning the cash prize drawing. What’s it about? Two primary objectives of the Rant include attempting to set the record straight and provide opposing views. It should be of…
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Dec 21
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clean power plan

Clean Power Plan v the World

By Energy Rant No Comments
Last week, a colleague asked about my take on climate change. This is a wide open question, and my response was babbling and incoherent. Having some time to forge a coherent response, there is nothing in the technological pipeline, nor is there an existence of policy with teeth that will make a significant difference from status quo. Happy Holidaaaayyyys! Happy Holidaaaayyyys! While the merry bells keep ringing… Assume the Clean Power Plan (CPP) survives the blizzard of court cases and is successful by the year 2030. Consider the 32% reduction goal of the CPP by 2030. Using round numbers, if…
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Dec 14
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Big Deal Big Data – Usain Bolt v Engineer

By Energy Rant No Comments
A year ago, I opened one Rant with Smart meter. Smart meter. Smart meter. Smart meter. Smart grid. Smart grid. Smart grid. Smart grid. I hereby open this post with Big Data. Big Data. Big Data. Big Data. Big hype. Big whoop. The Association for Energy Services Professionals held an online conference last week, and the theme was…. Big Data. Like smart grid and smart meters, big data presents an enormous opportunity for energy efficiency, the evolving energy infrastructure, and utilities in general. Like smart grid and smart meters, the Pacific Ocean lies between where we are and the new…
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All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

All things energy. That’s our jam.

We talk a lot about energy – from the serious to the satirical.

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