15th Rocky Mountain Utility Exchange, Sept. 21 - 24, 2021

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15^th Rocky Mountain Utility Exchange Agenda

Looking for past presentations from the Rocky Mountain Utility Exchange? Visit the Archive.

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session 1: Silo-Busting Collaboration, Partnership, and Innovation Development

Facilitator Dominic May
La Plata Electric Association

Facilitator Megan Moore-Kemp
Yampa Valley Electric Association

Preview Session 1 Video

Smashing Silos in Summit County
Home Energy Squad is Xcel Energy's residential direct-install program. It is implemented by CLEAResult, and its technicians are based in the front range (Silo 1). HC3 provides home energy audit and direct-install services for customers in Summit County, but its resources are limited (Silo 2). Xcel Energy is forecasting a gas capacity constraint in Summit County (Silo 3). How do these disparate pieces fit together? Xcel Energy is supporting HC3 with marketing and program resources, CLEAResult is providing virtual visit support to streamline HC3's in-home visits, Home Energy Squad is providing additional equipment for customers, and all parties are collecting information to support gas demand reduction strategies being developed by Xcel Energy's engineers and product developers. Normally, these groups might be competing for resources and might not play nice together. However, with a common goal in mind, we are seeing what is possible when groups pool their resources and support each other's strengths.

Rob O'Connell
Xcel Energy

Jess Hoover
High Country Conservation

Timing is Everything: Engaging Customers, Reducing Peak, and Managing Batteries When it Matters Most
As the deployment of clean energy and distributed energy resources continue to grow and beneficial electrification gains momentum, the time and location in which energy is used are increasingly important. This presentation, with Holy Cross Energy, Copper Labs, and Camus Energy will share preliminary findings from enhancing an existing peak reduction program (Peak Time Payback) with real-time usage data and customer engagement, as well as exploration of leveraging managed batteries (Power+) and real-time voltage information (Copper) to reduce load and balance the grid.

Eileen Wysocki
Holy Cross Energy

Eric Van Orden
Copper Labs

Ted James
Camus Energy

Evolving Residential Energy Management to be a Clean Peak Resource
TOU rates are critical to shifting peak demand and aligning energy use with intermittent renewables to help meet clean energy goals. But we must make it easy and convenient for customers to participate by combining good rate options, enabling technologies and educational resources. APS has a successful Home Energy Report (HER) program focused on EE savings, sending 9 million over the past decade. We wanted to know if this tool could be leveraged to shift demand by educating customers on the value of TOU rates. We began segmenting customers based on their rate—"TOU, TOU + Demand and Flat"—and using HERs to send details on that rate, personalized tips to save in the peak and offers for efficient products like smart thermostats. June to August 2020, average weekday savings in the HER program ranged between 1,200 kW and 1,700 kW. With additional strategies being added in 2021.

Tom Hines
Arizona Public Service

Vanessa Richter
Oracle

12:00 - 12:30 pm

Refreshment Break

Prerecorded and available from
8:00 am on Tuesday to 12:00 midnight Mountain on Thursday.

Sponsor Showcase
View these pre-recorded lightning-fast introductions to companies that offer leading-edge technology and service innovations. Emphasis will be on field applications and utility case studies. Collect the Secret Words from all Sponsor Showcase presentations and complete the form to enter the sponsor showcase drawing. Entries will open at at 8:00 am Tuesday and close at midnight on Friday. You can listen and complete your entry form at your convenience. The drawing will be held from completed entries during the Friday morning session, but you need not be present to win.

Presenters:

CAMUS Energy

CLEAResult

EFI

Resource Innovations

12:30 - 2:00 pm

Session 2: Equity and Income-Qualified Program Considerations

Facilitator Susan Bartlett
Longmont Power & Communications

Facilitator Brian Tholl
City of Fort Collins

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Understanding Lower-income Consumers and the Smart Energy Future
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased focus on the financial challenges of Americans and on racial equity issues in American society. Using the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative's propriety consumer research as a starting point for discussion, this session will focus on the energy-related needs and wants of lower-income consumers (those with incomes under $50K annually) and also highlight notable disparities between White, Black and People of Color consumers in this lower-income customer segment. We will discuss consumers' values, motivations, behaviors and interests around important energy-related topics, including smart home technology, climate change, energy efficiency and clean energy, and how stakeholders can better serve these consumers going forward.

Nathan Shannon
Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative

Evolution of Program Design to Serve Frontline Communities
From offering a moderate-income program pathway for over 13 years to the present-day expansion into programs designed with little, or no, out of pocket costs. Expanding to LMI customers as well as rural customers, communities of color, veterans, and people with disabilities by offering the highest levels of cost-effective incentives to partner "Community Based Organizations" (CBOs), to pair with their other funding sources. Presentation will offer details on key milestones and stakeholders, our approach to establishing partnerships with organizations serving their customer bases, and how we work to support capacity building with CBOs.

Ryan Crews
Energy Trust of Oregon

Alder Miller
CLEAResult

How to Successfully Engage Manufactured Home (Limited Income) Customers
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) is making strides engaging limited income customers. They have a large population of manufactured homeowners who they want to engage and help save money by conserving energy and making cost-effective home upgrades. So they set out to better understand who these customers were and how they wanted information. With these insights they took a multi-faceted approach to engage them with personalized messaging through preferred channels. One channel was the Home Energy Report, with customized modules promoting a dedicated page with insights on their usage, information on weatherization programs and a link to a home energy assessment. Customers have responded well. Average monthly savings are 1-1.5%, with 91% of customers reading the reports and 58% finding the tips useful. This session will examine PSEs unique approach to engaging manufactured home customers, including best practices for delivering EE savings and improving satisfaction.

Rachelle Dillard
Puget Sound Energy

David Siddiqui
Oracle

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session 3: Consumer Engagement with Communication Strategies and Tactics That Work

Facilitator Alantha Garrison
Gunnison County Electric Association

Facilitator Christmas Wharton
Grand Valley Power

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Delivering the Goods: One Pizza, Many Toppings
Creating a solution, rather than transactions, is the goal of this initiative. Xcel Energy redesigned its diffuse array residential heating and cooling programs into a one-stop shop for energy efficiency rebates, including rebates for beneficial electrification projects.

Josh Martin
Xcel Energy

Leveraging Online Channels to Drive Savings
Ameren Illinois and their respective energy efficiency program implementers will discuss the importance of engaging customers to help them transition to an online platform and increase savings. The utility's recent case study originated from customer engagement success during the heat of the pandemic. Ameren Illinois will explain how they leveraged their online platforms to drive savings during the pandemic and specific case study examples will be shared.

Dani Blackard
Ameren Illinois

Stephanie Cole
CLEAResult

Meeting Customer Needs They Didn't Know They Had (through the Company Store)
Leveraging the capabilities of new third-party provider, the Xcel Energy marketplace platform opens new/improved ways to engage customers with new "one click" solutions such as contractor scheduling, financing options, home visits.

Kristin May
Xcel Energy

Phil Scarbro
EFI

12:00 - 12:30 pm

Refreshment Break Sponsored by EFI

12:30 - 2:00 pm

Session 4: Energy Efficiency: Swipe Right or Left

Facilitator Alaina Hawley
Platte River Power Authority

Facilitator Cesar KoKoletzi
United Power

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Good Math: One Device + Three Program Benefits = A Great Customer Experience
We're moving the burden of participation from the customer to the utility. How? Pairing demand response, energy efficiency and easy customer participation methodology is a big win for the customer experience and for utility savings. The thermostat optimization algorithms provided by the manufacturer is a unique energy savings value-add. Personalized customer experience, leveraging their behaviors into energy savings is something we all aspire to in program design. Combining this with DSM and DR savings, and with the addition of gas and renewable curtailment in the future, this is a real winner.

Michelle Beaudoin
Xcel Energy

Meagan Madden
Xcel Energy

Shawn Peterson
ecobee

HVAC&R in Supermarkets, Untapped Potential for Utilities?
The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed that buildings can play a significant role in the clean energy transition. Partnering with NREL and Emerson, the team is attempting to make supermarkets with both HVAC and refrigeration equipment more efficient and more flexible through supervisory controls only. The question is what flexibility is important for utilities. This interactive presentation will bring the question to the audience and lead discussion about how buildings and the associated distributed energy resources can help utilities modernize the grid using a specific building type and DERS as an example to spark discussion.

Amy Jiron
U.S. Department of Energy

Grant Wheeler
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Growing Pains (Think Grow Houses)
Commercial refrigeration and grow house (indoor agriculture) new business/new building projects have increased sharply during the pandemic, and new technologies are challenging the utilities' standard design models. Asking the right questions in the design process is key to capturing savings.

Aaron Esselink
Xcel Energy

Russ Chitwood
Resource Innovations

Thursday, September 23, 2021

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session 5: Electric Vehicles: Driving Change in the Utility

Facilitator Chris Michalowski
Mountain Parks Electric

Facilitator Bryce Brady
Platte River Power Authority

Preview Session 5 Video

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Rate Design
Rate design for both level II and DC fast-charging is evolving quickly. In April 2021, The Colorado Energy Office (CEO) and Tri-State collaborated with E Source to facilitate a rate-design workshop with 16 Colorado cooperative and municipal utilities to identify goals, principles, best practices, and challenges to rate design and synthesized it into a final report (to be released in the summer of 2021). CEO and Tri-State will provide an overview of the report and the key findings, as well as rate design modifications made to CEO's DC fast-charging corridor program to show how real usage data can inform rate modifications. Attendees will then be broken out into discussion groups on level II and DC-fast charging rate design to build upon these presentations and share their perspectives, challenges, and opportunities related to rate design.

Matthew Fitzgibbon
Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association

Maria Eisemann
Colorado Energy Office

SmartCharge Colorado: Tri-State Generation and Transmission's EV Load Profiling Program
In 2021, Tri-State Generation and Transmission launched an EV load profiling and load management program with Geotab Energy and six of its member co-operatives. The aim of the program is to gather data from Colorado-based EV drivers, in a diversity of rural and suburban communities, to help inform with rate formulation and future managed charging programs. Preliminary data and lessons learned from this program will be presented to highlight some of the unique characteristics of EV charging in Colorado, including use of public charging infrastructure and the future value of managed charging.

Mike Frailey
Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association

Eric Mallia
Geotab Energy

Why Aren't Coloradans Driving Electric?
The Colorado market appears ripe for electric vehicle drivers, yet we're not seeing nearly the adoption levels needed to reach the Colorado Energy Office goal of nearly 1 million EVs on the road by 2030. What gives? E Source performed in-depth market research for the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to identify Coloradans' (mis)perceptions of EVs and barriers to purchase. We developed EV consumer segments plus an Education and Awareness Roadmap to spur EV adoption in the state. E Source is now partnering with Boulder County to implementing the CEO recommendations via an education and awareness campaign targeted at our top Colorado EV segments to address their key barriers to purchase and increase EV adoption in Boulder County. Join us to learn about the top Colorado (mis)perceptions and barriers to EV purchase, plus the key messaging campaigns Boulder County is implementing!

Lea Yancey
Boulder County

Adam Maxwell
E Source

12:00 - 12:30 pm

Refreshment Break

Prerecorded and available from
8:00 am on Tuesday to 12:00 midnight Mountain on Thursday.

Presenters:

CAMUS Energy

CLEAResult

EFI

Resource Innovations

12:30 - 2:00 pm

Session 6: Beneficial Electrification as a Paradigm Shift

Facilitator Lisa Reed
Holy Cross Energy

Facilitator Bryce Brady
Platte River Power Authority

Preview Session 6 Video

A Rising Tide Floats All Boats
The Beneficial Electrification League of Colorado (BEL-CO) has an active heat pump committee that includes Colorado utilities, the Colorado Energy Office, cities and industry groups. It’s not just talk; collaboration is resulting in actions that will accelerate residential heat pump adoption. This is not business as usual.

Ann Kirkpatrick
Xcel Energy

Peter Rusin
Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association

You Say Tomato, I Say Tom[ah]to: Defining Cold Climate Heat Pumps
Multiple, credible industry leader organizations have different definitions of cold climate heat pumps. Xcel Energy's heat pump energy efficiency engineer will explain the design considerations for energy savings, and the channel manager will describe the market implications.

Mike Papula
Xcel Energy

Josh Martin
Xcel Energy

We're Asking the Wrong Question about Electric Space Heat
The first objection that often arises when discussing electrifying space conditioning in new homes - especially in climate zone 5 or colder - is whether an ASHP can actually provide enough heat for the given space. The advancement in the technology increasingly means yes in colder climates. By reframing the question, though, the answer can be yes for all climates, all homes, and all builders. It can be done with materials, practices, and technologies widely available in market today. Instead of asking whether the system can accommodate the design, design to accommodate the system.

Rob Buchanan
Xcel Energy

Friday, September 24, 2021

10:30 am - 12:00 pm

Session 7: Distributed Energy Resources: Feeling unDER the Stress

Facilitator Gabriel Caunt
Colorado Springs Utilities

Facilitator Ann Kirkpatrick
Xcel Energy

Preview Session 7 Video

Bridging the Gap Between Demand Side Management and The Markets and Trading Desk
As DER portfolios mature, they are helping utilities meet the needs of demand side management and grid operations groups. Arizona Public Service (APS) has built large, reliable behind-the-meter demand response resources that contribute to the objectives of demand side management, grid operations, and, now, the markets and trading team. In this session, experts from APS' DSM and markets and trading desks will share how they partner to use DER programs to accomplish their goals, from blackout prevention this past summer to optimizing their procurement strategies to long-term resource planning. An expert from EnergyHub will join to facilitate and explain how they are building and optimizing this multi-DER portfolio to best support the markets and trading function. Attendees will hear from a utility pioneering grid-edge management on how the markets and trading team can harness the benefits of DERs.

Tayla Simmons
Arizona Public Service

Tom Hines
Tierra Resource Consultants

Tyler Rogers
EnergyHub

AI-Driven Smart Community Control for Accelerating PV Adoption and Enhancing Grid Resilience
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Holy Cross Energy (HCE) are deploying a novel smart community control architecture that combines individual home energy management systems (HEMS) and a utility aggregator to coordinate control among the houses. This approach ensures that residents are comfortable and their costs are reduced, while also maintaining grid stability as PV adoption increases. This project has undergone extensive modeling and laboratory validation at NREL and is now deployed in homes in the Basalt Vista community in Basalt, CO. The controlled devices in these all-electric homes include heat pumps for space conditioning, heat pump water heaters, PV inverters, batteries, and electric vehicle chargers. The HEMS is an NREL-developed software called foresee(TM), which controls the flexible loads to maximize use of on-site PV, responds to aggregator commands to reduce voltage violations and provide demand response, and can also reduce consumption in the homes during emergencies to reduce stress on the grid.

Ginette Puidokas
Holy Cross Energy

Lieko Earle
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Xin Jin
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Distributed Energy Resources: A Tale of Two... Car Dealers??
Many distributed energy resource projects are going on right under the noses of Rocky Mountain utilities, with or without their active participation. We provide a two-part case study of how solar developers and software vendors are teaming up to turn customer sites into flexible distributed energy resources. Colorado solar developer IPOWER Alliance and load flexibility software company Extensible Energy will present direct customer experience with solar-plus-storage-plus-software projects at two Colorado car dealerships that deliver joint customer and grid value. Both were developed with limited utility involvement; however, they provide key lessons for utility teams developing DER programs. Such projects could also become a key tool for meeting corporate sustainability targets as well as local and state renewable portfolio standards targets.

John Powers
Extensible Energy

Diane Dandeneau
IPOWER Alliance

12:00 - 12:30 pm

Refreshment Break Sponsored by Camus Energy

12:30 - 2:00 pm

Session 8: Evolution of Utility Leadership in Business Models/Markets

Facilitator Ron Horstman
Western Area Power Administration

Facilitator Chuck Finleon
Longmont Power & Communications

Preview Session 8 Video

Challenges of the Clean Energy Future
Xcel Energy's DSM residential and small business leader will talk about two aspects of the changing economics of the clean energy future. As we move to a lower carbon generation fleet we have less control over when generation resources are available. Unless we increase control of customer load we will have significant increases in real time price variability. How do we adapt our offerings to protect customers and our business from the associated risks?

Mark Schoenheider
Xcel Energy

"No Regrets" Investments for a DSO Future: Improving Grid Visibility with Existing Telemetry
Managing today's distribution grid is far from simple, and it's getting more complicated. Low-cost, distributed renewables and the growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) like rooftop solar, battery storage, and electric vehicles are forcing utilities to adapt their approaches to grid management. Learn why grid visibility is the foundation for a DSO Future and how Holy Cross is leveraging existing telemetry and data sources to gain transformational situational awareness. Hear first-hand accounts of the obstacles encountered and the paths carved to enable highly-reliable management of low-carbon, low-cost grids in Colorado. Think DSO is a term for 2030 or beyond? Let us change your mind by showing you just what's already possible, using proven technology to improve outcomes for your community today and into the future.

Chris Bilby
Holy Cross Energy

Ted James
Camus Energy

Unlocking Market Forces to Accelerate Decarbonization
The old way of running energy efficiency programs—acquiring kWh and therm savings—is not going to get us to our aggressive decarbonization goals. To have deeper and more lasting impacts on decarbonization, utilities in Illinois have turned to a new market transformation framework that seeks to remove market barriers and grease the wheels for technologies with low market penetration. In this session, you'll learn how Illinois utilities were able to augment their programs using market transformation and insights into early market transformation programs in the state, including thin triple windows, advanced lighting controls, and heat pumps.