Summit Blue's resource potential practice area includes energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable energy potential studies. Summit Blue has conducted considerable work with utilities that are new to these areas and need assistance to comply with recent state portfolio standards or requirements. The firm has also completed many projects for organizations with long-standing DSM programs that use the results to incorporate DSM into integrated resource plans. Summit Blue's resource potential studies range from small-scale studies that primarily use secondary information to profile a utility's customer base to large-scale studies that rely primarily on customer surveys to profile the utility's or state's customers.

Clients in this practice area span North America, from Nova Scotia to Northern California. These clients include American Electric Power, Arizona Public Service, Colorado Springs Utilities, Duke Energy, Hoosier Energy, Imperial Irrigation District, International Energy Agency, Iowa's investor-owned utilities, Kansas City Power & Light, Kansas Energy Council, Lansing Board of Water and Light, Mesa Utilities, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Minnesota Office of Energy Security, Missouri River Energy Services, Nebraska Public Power District, Northern California Power Authority, Nova Scotia Power, Otter Tail Power Company, Tucson Electric Power Company, and Xcel Energy.

Summit Blue's resource potential studies commonly include the following elements:

Baseline Customer Profiles

• Telephone surveys and on-site surveys
• Secondary regional information
• Delphi techniques

DSM Measure Characterization

• Energy and peak demand savings, costs, and lifetimes
• Estimated using building simulation models, engineering estimates, and published sources
• Estimates from existing statewide deemed savings databases are sometimes used

Benefit-Cost Analysis

• Analysis for California Standard Practice tests: Participant, Utility/Program Administrator, Rate Impact, Total Resource Cost, Societal
• Spreadsheet models or proprietary models, as clients prefer
• Analysis for each measure, all programs, and for the portfolio as a whole

Benchmarking and Best Practices Analysis

• To develop ultimate calibration targets for the DSM potential estimates
• To help to ensure that the ultimate potential estimates are realistic compared to actual DSM industry experience
• Analysis is regional or national in scope, as clients prefer
• Analysis identifies median savings and costs for utilities conducting large-scale DSM programs
• Program practices for high savings and low cost programs are profiled, which is particularly useful for projects that include DSM or renewable program plan development

DSM Potential Modeling

• Summit Blue has three different DSM potential models that we have used to meet different clients needs:
  • An Excel model containing linked spreadsheets that include benefit-cost analysis and uses stock accounting functionality
  • An Analytica model that has similar functionality as the Excel model, but has additional graphical features
  • A simple spreadsheet model that is good for quick and inexpensive analyses

To learn more about Summit Blue's resource potential practice area, please contact practice area lead Randy Gunn at rgunn@summitblue.com.