Challenge

Arizona Public Service (APS) needed a partner to provide measurement, evaluation, and research (MER) services in support of the planning and implementation of its demand-side management (DSM) portfolio. This requires:

• Ongoing performance measurement and analysis to verify peak demand and annual energy savings claimed and reported by APS in its annual filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).
• Development of hourly load usage profiles for residential and commercial energy efficiency, demand response, energy storage, and load management technologies.
• Tracking of incremental equipment and labor costs and non-electrical impacts for DSM technologies.
• Calculation of cost-effectiveness metrics and bill savings at the measure-, program-, and portfolio-level for the five standard DSM cost tests. Customer-centric research to assess program satisfaction, incentive levels, and barriers to participation.

Solution

Guidehouse began conducting research concurrent with the implementation of energy efficiency programs by APS. Guidehouse’s MER services are based on extensive measurement and verification activities including engineering analysis, field metering, onsite inspection, customer surveys, contractor and trade ally interviews, focus groups, billing records analyses, and review of implementation tracking databases and documentation. Through the MER process, Guidehouse provides ongoing evaluation to APS in separate measure-analysis spreadsheets, analytic databases, memos, reports, and presentations.

Impact

APS files its annual progress reports and implementation plans based on Guidehouse’s MER findings and recommendations. The findings inform the utility’s savings claims, cost-effectiveness estimates, lost fixed cost recovery, and performance incentives for the current program year, and program planning savings and cost estimates for the following program year.