by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 17, 2014 | Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant
Last week, I was reviewing a scope of work for retro-commissioning, also cleverly known as RCx – and it moved me to pulling hair out by the fistful. “That’s it”, I thought. “I’m going to relieve my rage on next week’s Energy Rant.” First, there is the infamous...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 10, 2014 | Energy Rant
Last week I attended the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) conference in Atlanta. With that, I have a confession to make: I rarely sit and listen to speakers or take notes either because there is nothing new[1], and there is rarely any sort of technical or...
by Jeff Ihnen | Nov 5, 2014 | Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant
Paid any attention to news lately? Need any ideas for a Halloween costume? Whoops – too late for that. A good costume would be the Ebola virus – the current obsessive, 24/7 news feeding fixation. Other than Ebola, it is fair to say the region between Morocco and...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 27, 2014 | Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant
This year was a blowout for tomato production at the Ihnen household. Enough tomatoes were planted such that if a tomato plague blighted the Ihnen ranch, wiping out 90% of the crop, there would still be plenty for onsite production. What to do[1]? We visited the...
by Jeff Ihnen | Oct 6, 2014 | Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant
Back in May I wrote that we need to explain the benefits of energy efficiency in simple terms – like our mothers would understand. In that I explained that utilities serve a public benefit, like roads. Since the dawn of energy efficiency, there have been cost...
by Jeff Ihnen | Sep 29, 2014 | Energy Efficiency, Energy Rant
Last week, I mentioned that having a diversified fleet of power generating plants is a smart strategy for any utility; specifically, diversity by fuel source. The recent natural gas bonanza cut loose with the perfection of hydraulic fracturing and mind-blowing...
