EM&V Forum

The Council’s EM&V Forum

Evaluation to Build Back Better

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The Council’s annual EM&V Forum was held in February, 2022. It brought together EM&V, data science, and implementation professionals from across the energy efficiency, demand response, and DER communities to explore critical technical topics that are essential for addressing California’s clean energy policies. This year’s theme was Evaluation to Build Back Better. We took a deep dive on four important and timely topics:

1. Evaluating DE&I initiatives
2. Measuring performance for near-term reliability efforts
3. Measuring Total System Benefits for long-term success
4. Making NMEC processes work

Panel #1: Evaluating DE&I Initiatives
There is a renewed focus on ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) as California and the federal government implement a number of decarbonization and clean energy initiatives. As DE&I efforts come more into focus, it is important to understand how various progress metrics are being developed with DE&I considerations. This panel will explore new and emerging EM&V activities to better understand how recent state and federal climate and clean energy efforts are integrating with DE&I priorities.

• Fabiola Lao, Center for Sustainable Energy
• Angie Ostaszewski, Ameren Illinois
• Gomathi Sadhasivan, DNV
• Moderator: Stacia Dreyer, Opinion Dynamics

Panel #2: Measuring Performance for Near-Term Reliability Efforts
The devastating effects of climate change (epic wildfires, prolonged droughts, intense heat storms) have taken our power grid to the brink of collapse over the past few years. Even before this time DR programs has always been counted on to help alleviate our grid challenges. But the issue of measuring performance, both in advance of DR events and after they have occurred, has always presented analytical challenges. That fact can’t be more true today as we increasingly look to DR to help to maintain a stable grid as we combat the effects of climate change. This panel will dive into a number of efforts in the DR EM&V space aimed at modernizing how we measure a priori and ex post DR performance.

• Carmen Best, Recurve
• Collin Elliot, Verdant
• Erik Lyon, California Energy Commission
• Beth Reid, Olivine
• Moderator: Jennifer Chamberlin, Cpower

Panel #3: Measuring Total System Benefits for Long-Term Success
During 2021, the CPUC reformed its approach to energy efficiency programs to better align with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and support customer equity and long-term energy grid stability. The so-called Total System Benefits (TSB) metric focuses on setting EE goals that maximize long duration GHG reductions and grid benefits, transitioning away from setting goals based on savings of kilowatt-hours, kilowatts, and therms. But what exactly is TSB and how will we ultimately measure it from a pre and post perspective? Do we currently have the tools in place to properly value TSB? The purpose of this panel is to explore these and other questions as the CPUC looks to the 2024 EE business plan filings to begin requiring program administrators to use TSB as the common metric for setting goals and assessing performance.

• Ryan Bullard, Southern California Edison
• Eric Cutter, E3
• Coby Rudolph, California Public Utility Commission
• Moderator: Amul Sathe, Guidehouse

Panel #4:  Making NMEC Processes Work
As a result of Assembly Bill 802 (signed into law in 2015), energy efficiency projects are encouraged using normalized metered energy consumption (NMEC) measurements as the basis to determine EE project savings. The CPUC has established rules for how to measure pre- and post-NMEC savings. As those rules get tested in the marketplace, stakeholders have discovered issues that necessitate modifications to those rules. The CPUC currently has an ongoing stakeholder process in place. The purpose of the panel is to explore the key issues and learn how a stakeholder-driven process is leading to important modifications and enhancements to many of those rules.

• Michelle Vigen Ralston, Common Spark Consulting
• Moderator: David Jump, kW Engineering

Lightning Round: What have we learned and where do we go from here?
Moderated by CEDMC Executive Director Greg Wikler with perspectives offered by moderators from Panels 1-4.

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