|
DID YOU KNOW THAT SMART POWER OFFERS...
| | |
Utility invoice account payment and reporting services.
Smart Power offers a convenient invoice payment service where we verify the bill, manage the payment and ensure the discount date is met.
This works particularly well for clients with multiple smaller sites that have difficulty in processing and paying accounts before the discount expiry date.
We provide a tailor made consolidated statement showing the amounts due for payment meaning the client need only make one or two payments a month.
This can save a considerable amount of processing time by not having to pay separate electricity accounts each month.
|
|
EVER WONDERED ....
| | |
Does turning fluorescent lights off use more energy than leaving them on?
With the traditional incandescent lightbulbs fast on their way to extinction, consumers are now opting for the greener, more energy efficient option - compact fluorescents.
However, it's a popularly held belief that CFL's use a lot of energy to get started, and this has lead to questions over whether it is best to keep them on when leaving the room, instead of subjecting them to a power hungry restart when you return.
Although it varies between types, the 'inrush' current required to turn the light on lasts for around 1/120th of a second , which is equal to a few seconds or less of normal light operation. Therefore, turning off fluorescent lights for more than 5 seconds will save more energy than what will be consumed when turning them on again.
Experts agree that, even when weighing up the wear and tear on the bulb, you should still switch off lights if you're leaving the room for more than 15 minutes. The energy savings will outweigh both the slight reduction in lamp life, as well as the start up energy used, in even brief outages.
So where the new fluorescent bulb is sure to lower utility bills in your home, the real energy-saver has been there all along: the light switch.
|
|
|
Greetings!
Welcome to this edition of Get Smart, Smart Power's regular bulletin. Get Smart provides a round-up of energy news and views from New Zealand, Australia and around the world.
In "Company Voice" this month, director Glenn Johnston talks about EECA Funding - which is a must read if you are considering energy saving projects or would like to know what EECA can offer. As always, your feedback is most welcome. |
|
|
NEW ZEALAND ENERGY HEADLINES
| |
New NABERSNZ Tool Shows you how to get to the Next Level
So you want to improve an office building's star rating, but you're not sure what it will take to get there? The New Zealand Green Building Council and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) have launched a new online tool as part of the NABERSNZTM programme. "The new NABERSNZ calculator will ... Read more
Election 2014's Party Policies - Energy & Power
Compare and contrast NZ's Energy and Power policies ahead of the September 20 2014 Election - from power generation, to private asset sales, to the creation of new agency, NZ Power.
Read more on Energy Policies
Read more on Power Policies
Energy Efficient Flower Grower Wins Awards
A Canterbury flower grower has scooped the country's supreme energy efficiency award. K&L Nurseries has installed an advanced boiler which has not only halved its energy costs by being run on the nursery's green waste, but also saved it from having to dispose of 100 tonnes of green waste a year ... Read more
Electricity Charges Plugged as Meat Tenderiser
The tenderness of red meat could be increased after research into stimulating it with short bursts of high-voltage electricity. Whole carcasses have been subjected to electrical stimulation since the 1970s, but its tenderising effects are limited to a few muscles ... Read more
How to Slash your Power Bill
Kiwi households' annual power bills have increased by $243 over the past three years and the price rises look set to continue. What can you do to keep a lid on yours? ... Read more
|
|
AUSTRALIAN ENERGY HEADLINES
| |
Savo Volcano Could be the Solution to Electricity Demands
An Australian company is hoping it can use thermal power from a Solomon Islands volcano to provide electricity to the country's capital, Honiara. Savo Island's volcano last erupted more than 100 years ago but steam escaping from its vents can often ... Read more
Electricity and Gas Prices: Why You're Paying More
An energy crisis is rapidly unfolding in the Australian electricity and gas sectors that will rival the oil shock of the 1970's. That shock to our energy-intensive economy originated in global changes in the energy industry. The great energy crisis of 2015 will ... Read more
Australia's First Zero Net Energy Town Could be in NSW
The search has begun for a suitable town to become Australia's first "zero net energy town" - where electricity is generated locally from renewable sources, and stored and distributed on a localised mini grid ... Read more
ACCC to Monitor Post Carbon Tax Prices
The Australian Competition and Consume Commission (ACCC) is gearing up to closely monitor companies that flagged a price increase as a result of the carbon tax, now the controversial measure has been abolished by parliament, with airlines Qantas Airways and Virgin Holdings squarely in the watchdog's sights ... Read more
Australia Will Pay the Price if we Continue to Miss the Target
In a few weeks' time a Hobart suburban household and business, a heavy energy user, will part company with the national electricity market and go it alone. Seventy-two rooftop solar panels will produce 18 kilowatts of power ... Read more
|
|
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY HEADLINES
| |
Electricity Harnessed from Water Condensing
JPS Partners with Crime Stop to Fight Electricity Theft
The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) has signed a partnership agreement with Crime Stop Jamaica as part of the company's efforts to curtail electricity theft. JPS will pay rewards of up to $100k for reports that lead to the successful discovery of illegal connections, the recovery of lost revenue, and/or the arrest of persons responsible ... Read more
Why Owning Your Own Power Plant Might Not Be Crazy
It's not that far-fetched to imagine a day when large segments of customers choose to go mostly or even entirely off-grid with clean, quiet, distributed solar-plus-battery systems. In fact, could owning your own power plant become as convenient and practical-if not quite as ubiquitous-as the consumer appliances and electronics ... Read more
Converting Waste into Energy in Kristianstad, Sweden
What's the best use for old cooking oil, potato peels, manure, and pig intestines? For residents of the city of Kristianstad, Sweden, the answer is energy ... Read more
5 Things to Know About Coal Trade & Global Warming
As the Obama administration weans the U.S. off polluting fuels blamed for global warming, energy companies have been sending more of America's unwanted energy leftovers to other parts of the world where they could create even more pollution ... Read more
|
|
|
THE COMPANY VOICE
| |
Director Glenn Johnston is responsible for technical work streams within Smart Power including energy auditing, risk analysis and energy tenders.
Glenn started in the electricity industry in 1993 with the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) where he was involved in assisting customers to identify and implement energy saving initiatives. After the break up of ECNZ into smaller entities, Glenn went to Genesis Energy as an account manager working with customers to supply their energy needs. Glenn joined Smart Power in 2003 from Transpower where he gained a strong knowledge of electricity supply and network pricing. This month he talks about EECA Funding.
EECA Funding for Energy Initiatives
In the past, EECA used to energy audits as a means to obtain energy reduction throughout the industrial and commercial sectors. This has now changed to funding based on actual kWh's saved via several methods.
The funding is targeted to provide enough funding to make the saving initiative proceed. EECA presume most projects with a payback under 2 years are likely to proceed, so this is a cut off basis. Thus if the funding reduces the payback from 3 years to 2, applications are more likely to be successful.
A key point to note is that savings need to be measured and verified over the payback period of the project. If all the savings don't result, a prorated amount of the funding needs to be paid back.
Types of funding opportunities:
Audit and Works - The most common option where funding of up to 40% of the total project cost is available. Most of these over the past few years have been lighting, but any energy saving technology can be a project. In fact, projects other than lighting are actually preferred.
Continuous Commissioning is another opportunity where a building is continually monitored and improved, to lower its energy use. A lot of the cost of this work is the consultant and contractors who are monitoring the performance, promoting ideas to reduce energy and implementing the ideas. The consultants then check to see if the expected reductions are being realised and look at the next best option.
Monitoring and Targeting - This is based on installing monitoring systems, continually reviewing this information and making improvements to obtain the savings. This can be installing sub-metering, building management systems or an overall monitoring and targeting programme. Minimum funding for these is based on 5% kWh savings.
These projects are not just a simple manner of filling in an application to EECA. As this is public money that is being dispensed, EECA require:
-
Proposal/audit
-
EECA template filled in
-
Signed letter from the end user indicating the project will not proceed without funding
-
Report on how the savings will be verified
-
Firm quotes from suppliers
-
Project timeframes
-
Direct contracts with end users for larger projects
-
Actual invoices provided as proof of supply
-
Commissioning Certificate that work is completed to the expected outcome
-
Ongoing monitoring installed
-
Annual Verification Report
Smart Power is an EECA accredited partner for these projects and can apply for funding on your behalf, as well as provide all the aspects noted above to make the process as simple as possible for the client. The Smart Power fees are subsidised as part of the overall project.
For more information on EECA Funding, contact Glenn: glenn@smartpower.co.nz or phone (04) 233 5116.
|
|
This newsletter was provided by:
Smart Power
|
|
|
|
|
