Technical feasibility assessment and development of a proof-of-concept electric utility rate schedule evaluation tool (RateSET)
Federal military installations often receive electric utility service under ``special`` rate schedules designed for large government and institutional facilities. These schedules are intended to be financially beneficial to the government when compared with rates offered to large non-federal customers. Past experience, however, indicates that this may not always be the case. Determining the applicability and cost-effectiveness of alternative rate schedules is a complicated process requiring the analysis of utility bills and computer simulation of diurnal load data and utility rate structures. A layer of complexity is added if the federal installation receives service from more than one electric utility and is considering consolidated billing. In 1993, under a project with the Air Force, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) examined the possibility of developing a methodology to facilitate the evaluation of alternative rate schedules. To meet the objectives of this project, PNL performed two tasks as follows: Task 1, PNL developed a proof-of-concept prototype computer program (RateSET) that compares the costs under a government rate schedule to those back-calculated under an alternative rate schedule. The program was used to recreate the structure of both rate schedules and then to process 24 monthly billing statements and the associated 30-minute demand data for the two year period. For the initial test case, actual data were used from a large US Army Forces Command installation located in Georgia. Task 2, PNL then reviewed the tariff packages for each of the major electric utilities providing service to Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina. The primary objective of this alternative rate schedule screening and evaluation process was to characterize the process itself, identify problem areas, and develop a workable approach to use in future similar evaluations.
Year of publication: |
2009-11-05
|
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Authors: | DiMassa, F.V. ; Brown, W.W. |
Subject: | energy planning and policy | energy conservation, consumption, and utilization | mathematics, computers, information science, management, law, miscellaneous | RATE STRUCTURE | MILITARY FACILITIES | ELECTRIC POWER | ELECTRIC UTILITIES | FEASIBILITY STUDIES | PRICES | GEORGIA | SOUTH CAROLINA | POWER DEMAND |
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