Planning is an essential step to ensure that utilities have the resources necessary to reliably serve their customers. Lighthouse Energy Consulting can assist with a range of utility resource planning.
Conservation Potential Assessments
Conservation potential assessments (CPAs) are an essential tool for any energy efficiency program or resource planning process. They identify the quantity and cost of resources that are available and achievable in a utility service territory. Lighthouse is the CPA provider of choice for many utilities in the Northwest.
Selected Client Projects
- Completed more than twenty CPAs for eleven publicly owned utilities in the Northwest since 2020, including many for utilities in Washington state based on Energy Independence and Clean Energy Transformation Act requirements
- Part of the team that completed Conservation Potential Assessments for the Bonneville Power Administration in 2021 and 2023
- Developed the Utility Potential Calculator for BPA
- Assisted the Energy Trust of Oregon with potential assessments in their Avista and Portland General Electric service territories
Demand Response Potential Assessments
With increases in seasonal peak demands, a changing resource mix, and the challenges of integrating variable energy sources, demand response and other distributed energy resources are becoming an essential tool for utilities. Lighthouse can help utilities identify the resources that can be a cost-effective addition to help balance loads.
Selected Client Projects
- Part of the team that completed Demand Response Potential Assessments for the Bonneville Power Administration in 2021 and 2023
- Completed a dozen DRPAs for ten utilities since 2020, including many in Washington state for compliance with the Clean Energy Transformation Act
- Part of the team that completed a distributed resource assessment for Portland General Electric
- Developed a Demand Side Program Assessment for the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority, identifying demand savings potential and cost for several demand response and conservation programs
Electrification Potential Assessments
Electrification is increasingly seen as a necessary climate solution. Understanding the impacts to the grid is critical for reliability. Lighthouse can help estimate the added loads electrification will bring.
Selected Client Projects
- Estimated the monthly and hourly grid impacts from electrification driven by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act for the City of Ellensburg
Geospatial Assessments
While service territory-wide assessments can help with resource planning, understanding how resources are distributed across a service territory can help with planning targeted programs and non-wires solutions.
Selected Client Projects
- Conducted geospatial assessment of conservation and demand response potential for Snohomish Public Utility District
- Assisted the Energy Trust of Oregon with identifying low-income conservation potential at natural gas load centers
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
Understanding what measures and programs will return value for the dollars invested is a crucial part of the planning process. Whether it is determining the avoided costs for a potential assessment, calculating the benefit-cost ratio of a program, or developing a standalone calculator tool, Lighthouse can help.
Selected Client Projects
- Developed custom cost-effectiveness calculators for Emerald People’s Utility District, Snohomish Public Utility District, and Richland Energy Services
- Developed web tool to help BPA customer utilities evaluate the value of measures with customizable inputs
- Reviewed electric and natural gas avoided cost calculations for the Energy Trust of Oregon
Measure Analysis
In any program or potential assessment, having accurate estimates of the savings and costs of individual measures is critical. Lighthouse has a long history of developing and reviewing these estimates.
Selected Client Projects
- Part of a team that reviewed the energy efficiency and demand response supply curves for the 2021 Power Plan
- Analyzed national Industrial Assessment Center recommendation database for the Energy Trust of Oregon to estimate natural gas savings for large users
- Developed shapes for the hourly impact of solar plus storage systems for the Energy Trust of Oregon
- Previously developed two measures for the Northwest’s Regional Technical Forum