It’s Time To Improve Our Energy Awareness

AS WE APPROACH WITH trepidation the second anniversary of the February 2021 winter storm, uneasiness settles in along with the cold winter air. We have done much to improve our collective situational awareness about the potential impacts of extreme cold weather, and we are in a much better position to respond, but we still have a scarcity market in place for the delivery of a critical product: electricity. It doesn’t take an economist to understand that the laws of supply and demand don’t work when there is no supply.

During the 2021 winter storm, using data analytics, we were able to measure the sensitivity of houses to extreme cold weather in kilowatt-hours per square foot, and what we found was alarming. For houses that were the same size in square footage, exposed to the same outside temperatures, you would expect to see a similar consumption of energy. Instead, what we saw was very surprising: The difference in energy consumption of the most energy-inefficient house was 21 times the energy usage of the most energyefficient house.

Armed with this data, we were able to obtain certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Apolloware platform as an energy efficiency measurement and verification tool. This enabled BEC to launch our Energy Saver program, which allows members to get the data they need to improve the efficiency of their homes. These improvements, such as new windows or a new AC unit, are financed through BEC over a 10-year period at 1% interest and added to your monthly electric bill. The energy savings exceed the loan payment in almost every case.

Peter Drucker once said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” His point was that in business, data is needed to validate improved outcomes.

The same is true for electricity usage. Bandera Electric Cooperative started developing data analytics in 2016 with the goal of measuring how our members use energy in real time. The name of this real-time energy analytics platform is called Apolloware because having this was data was very important to those who had invested in solar power.

Starting this year, we will install Apolloware on all new electric overhead services so you will have access to your real-time electricity usage data. Over the past six years, we have seen that just having access to this information changes behaviors. For example, residential customers typically save about 15% on average on their electric bills, and some have seen savings of over 40%.

So let’s improve the way we use energy this year, beginning with measurement. D

JAMES PAULS ISTOCK.COM