Papers and Presentations

Webinar: Thermal Batteries 44GW of Storage Ready for Deployment

Watch Stan Nabozny of Michaels Energy talk about the benefits of thermal batteries for the electric grid and resiliency in cold food storage. This is an excerpt from a longer, AESP-sponsored webinar.

Enter the multifaceted landscape of demand flexibility through energy storage and its pivotal role in shaping the energy transition. Discover how thermal energy storage (TES) is revolutionizing demand flexibility for both building owners and utilities through real-world case studies spanning diverse sectors from HVAC to industrial refrigeration, and uncover the potential of TES in reducing costs, cutting carbon footprints, and enhancing grid resilience.
Learn how TES can tackle issues like the dreaded duck curve, grid instability, and volatility of energy pricing and availability while being more affordable, more efficient, longer lasting, sourced in the USA, environmentally friendly, and packed full of non-energy benefits.

Resiliency Superpowers

At the 2023 AESP Annual conference, Michaels Energy unveiled a new solution improve grid resilience, reduce risk, and better meet energy demands: Thermal Energy Storage (TES).

Learn how TES can tackle issues like the dreaded duck curve, grid instability, and volatility of energy pricing and availability while being more affordable, more efficient, longer lasting, sourced in the USA, environmentally friendly, and packed full of non-energy benefits.

WEBINAR - Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials

Energy storage has been around since shortly after man harnessed fire. A pile or stack of wood is stored energy waiting to be used. More recently, for hundreds of years, ice was harvested from ponds and lakes for preserving foods through the summer and shoulder seasons. Electricity eliminated the need for ice harvesting and storage. Coming full circle, a nascent industry is emerging to store the benefits of electricity, consuming it to ‘charge’ storage materials when electricity prices are low and discharge the storage materials when electricity prices are high. The storage materials of choice are phase change materials (PCMs). PCMs have a great capacity to release and absorb heat (refrigeration) at a wide range of temperatures from frozen food warehouses at minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit to occupied room temperatures. These wide-ranging phase change materials offer an enormous opportunity to shift loads in ’grid-interactive, efficient buildings‘ (GIBs) in which PCMs do the same thing as batteries or other storage technologies, but at a small fraction of the cost. These technologies are in the pre-emerging technology phase of market adoption, but Jeff Ihnen believes they will become widely accepted due to their flexibility, cost-effectiveness, simplicity, zero moving parts, longevity, and non-invasiveness. Join us as we explore the potential of PCMs!

Presentation by Jeff Ihnen on Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials during the annual AEE World Energy Conference.

WEBINAR - Electrification Stakeholder Meeting #2b: Electrification Around the U.S.

Hosts:
Carl Samuelson, Michaels Energy

Moderator:
Anthony Fryer, MN Department of Commerce – Project Principal

Guest Speakers:
Ana Sophia Mifsud, Rocky Mountain Institute
Samantha Caputo, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP)
Jessica Allison, California Public Utilities Commission

WEBINAR - Electrification in Minnesota: Stakeholder Engagement Meeting

Hosts:
Carl Samuelson, Michaels Energy – Moderator
Anthony Fryer, MN Department of Commerce – Project Principal Guest

Speakers:
Charles Satterfield II, Department of Energy
Aditya Ranade, MN Department of Commerce
Winona LaDuke, Honor the Earth
Ben Benoit, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
Jenny Edwards, Center for Energy and Environment
Andrew Moratzka, Stoel Rives
Kevin Lawless, The Forward Curve and Hourcar
Carmen Carruthers, Citizens Utility Board
Ben Passer, Fresh Energy

WEBINAR - The Electrified Frontier: Sharing results from stakeholder interviews and research

Electrification has garnered a lot of attention recently across the country. Likewise in Minnesota, electrification and the associated concept of fuel switching within conservation programs have been the subject of conversations, research, policy dockets, program amendments, and conferences. The surge of interest in electrification stems from a new understanding of electrification as a tool that could provide societal benefits like carbon reductions, cost savings, efficiency, and grid benefits.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce commissioned Michaels Energy to write a white paper through their Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) fund. The research gathered stakeholder and expert perspectives on electrification and fuel switching.
The goal of the paper was to:

Provide Minnesota-centric analysis on the topic of electrification and fuel switching.
Provide a primer to inform all CIP stakeholders and enable better participation in future stakeholder engagement opportunities.

Frame-up key questions and decision points for discussion by stakeholders and consideration by regulators.
In this hour-long webinar, Michaels Energy will share the results of the interviews, a literature review, and technology research. Department of Commerce staff will provide some perspective on other efforts underway in Minnesota to gather stakeholder input on the topic. This webinar, and the white paper, both seek to be introductory resources for the industry and raise the baseline of knowledge to improve future engagement.

WEBINAR - Building Energy Use - Learn how to control it

Prepared for Energize St. Paul

WEBINAR - On-going Commissioning of Outpatient Medical Facilities

The healthcare sector, though ripe with opportunity, faces many barriers as they seek to address energy efficiency in their facilities. Michaels Energy recently conducted a pilot exploring two different approaches to engaging outpatient medical facilities in energy efficiency through on-going commissioning. In this webinar, Michaels will share findings from each of these approaches.

For larger outpatient surgical centers, the team implemented a real-time energy dashboard and supported the facilities as they implemented recommissioning measures. For smaller, outpatient medical clinics, the team piloted a contractor driven energy assessment toolkit developed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The project also included some broader data gathering in additional facilities to develop a benchmark for this sector in Minnesota. Finally, the project team investigated two energy-efficiency measures specific to surgical spaces in ASCs (Ambulatory Surgical Centers): scheduling of outdoor air and reduction of relative humidity. Both measures and their required MDH approval processes will be discussed.

Key findings that will be shared in the webinar include: the inaccuracy of national benchmarks as they pertain to the Minnesota outpatient facility population; benefits and challenges of each on-going commissioning strategy; energy savings achieved during the pilot implementation; and discussion about the barriers and opportunities facing the health care sector as it seeks to address energy efficiency.

WEBINAR - The ABCs of Hotel Energy Efficiency: Advanced Technologies, Benchmarking, and Comfort

Michaels Energy piloted an energy efficiency program for 38 hotels in Minnesota during 2014-2015. Components of this pilot, discussed in this webinar, include:

1) use of ENERGY STAR portfolio manager to benchmark and certify high performers,
2) field audits and documentation of energy conservation measures,
3) implementation support by contractor partners,
4) surveying of hotel guests regarding the impact of energy efficiency on comfort, and
5) field testing of new technologies, in particular a liquid pool cover.

Results show that hotels have significant opportunities to reduce their energy usage and guests are unlikely to notice the measures. Excellent cost savings are available and measure paybacks are quite attractive (frequently 2 years or less), especially when non-energy benefits such as water and maintenance savings are included in the calculation. Recommendations for utilities, hotels, contractors, and regulators to better serve this market sector are shared in this webinar.

This project was supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.

Recommendations for utilities, hotels, contractors, and regulators to better serve this market sector are shared in a formal report.