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What is Energy Management? The response to this question will depend on whether you ask an energy policy maker, a plant head of a large manufacturing facility, an Architecture/Engineering/Construction professional, a data center owner or a technology and service provider. Even though their responses may vary, most of them will agree that energy management strategy should address demand side options focused on energy efficiency, supply side options that need to be safe, reliable, affordable, and increasingly sourced from renewable power and must take advantage of the digitization trends sweeping the technology landscape.
Effective energy management in today’s organizations is seen as a lifecycle approach that begins with a high level energy management strategy encompassing energy efficiency, sustainability, and cost reduction goals. On one hand, today’s in-house energy or facility management team has to stay on top of the latest energy efficiency standards and regulations and brief the top management on the compliance options to avoid negative business impact. On the other hand, the same team must stay on top of the various technological advancements and work closely with an energy management partner to plan for the capital investments and operating budgets. For example, data center management plan has to include an energy management system that meets the uptime, energy efficiency, and cost reduction targets.
Do you have an energy management plan for your enterprise? Are you using the appropriate energy management system that helps in making the right decisions? Do you believe that energy management is an institutionalized activity within your organization? Does your energy risk management strategy address the challenges of fuel choices, energy procurement, and demand side management to compete effectively in an increasingly global marketplace?
In the forthcoming blogs, we will discuss how different approaches to energy management, such as energy procurement and sustainability strategies, benchmarking, plant and building automation, monitoring and controls, ISO 50001, and demand response strategies can help in addressing some of these questions at different levels for different stakeholders. I am looking forward to our journey as we explore how energy management can help you develop an energy plan that I hope will make your enterprise more competitive and sustainable.
