Dive Brief:
- Energy efficiency and demand-side management programs are saving NV Energy about 25% in the cost of managing its grid, the company recently told the state Public Utilities Commission.
- The utility put the avoided cost of transmission and distribution upgrades at $12.23 per kilowatt, one quarter of the total cost-per-kilowatt of maintaining the grid. The annual cost of maintaining the grid is $48.92 per kilowatt, the utility said, adding that its estimate of savings from efficiency is "conservative."
Dive Insight:
"Increasingly, energy efficiency is a contributing element of an integrated solution for ameliorating or avoiding T&D system capacity problems. By improving customer end-use energy efficiency, T&D system upgrades can be downsized, delayed, or in some cases avoided entirely," NV Energy unit Nevada Power said.