CEE Program Committee Meeting Transformers Breakout Session 6/5/00

Participants: Courtney Peverell ICF Consulting Adam Hinge Sustainable Energy Partnerships  representing NEEP Jim Siegmund The Cadmus Group Bob Huang The Cadmus Group Margaret Suozzo ACEEE Fouad Dagher National Grid, USA Jon Linn NEEP Dave Hewitt NEEP Melissa Mastrianni CEE Ted Jones CEE Mahri Lowinger CEE Eric Beaton Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources Barbara Smith Wisconsin Energy Bureau Ruth Horton NYSERDA Guerino Trovato NYPA Scott Matthews California Energy Commission Jeff Harris FEMP Doug Gatlin EPA

Purpose: The purpose of the session was to discuss recent developments and activities under CEEs C&I Transformer Initiative. The agenda included progress with the ENERGY STAR Transformers program, the NEES Companies (recently acquired as part of National Grid USA) proposed prescriptive incentive program, developments with codes and standards, NYSERDAs project to increase the penetration of Energy Star transformers in NY, and improvements in transformer efficiency in general.

Session Highlights:

Energy Star The Energy Star Transformers program began in April of 1998. Only 5 percent of transformers currently meet Energy Star efficiency levels. Full market penetration would save up to 7.5 billion kWh/year, and individual buildings could reduce electricity demand by up to 1.5 percent. Energy Stars strategy includes increasing the supply and demand for qualified high-efficiency transformers, tracking the programs impact and monitoring how procurement practices change. Energy Star plans to build demand through the C&I and government sectors. The group discussed creating a link from the Energy Star transformers web page to CEEs Transformers UPDATE on CEEs web page.

The Cadmus Group Jim Siegmund shared information on the benefits of high-efficiency transformers and recent technology developments. Better core and windings can cut losses by 40-80 percent. He summarized results from a recent New England transformer loading study and the Energy Star Transformer Efficiency Calculator. The calculator can be viewed on Energy Stars web site at: http://www.epa.gov/appdstar/transform/resources.html.

National Grid National Grid is proposing to offer rebates on TP-1 transformers to help the market for high-efficiency transformers. They propose to pay 40-70 percent of the incremental cost for Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Since Massachusetts mandates the use of TP-1 transformers this would be a short term measure in Massachusetts until the code is enforced in 2001. They will also conduct outreach including trainings to electrical designers, distributors and contractors. Fouad discussed proposing an amendment to ASHRAE 90.1 to include TP-1.

Codes and Standards Adam Hinge brought everyone up to speed on developments in codes and standards. States that currently have codes and standards that use TP-1 as their baseline include Massachusetts, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In California the regular 3-year review of Title 24 was skipped due to restructuring. This means that the next round of reviews will be in 2005. This opens a window for CA IOUs to adopt MT activities for distribution transformers that will likely go away by 2005 when TP-1 is adopted into Title 24. Canada recently proposed TP-1 be used as a national standard for more information visit: http://regulations.nrcan.gc.ca/. The TP-2 testing protocol for TP-1 is under development as well as a TP-3 standard, which is a labeling standard for TP-1. TP-1 is also being considered for inclusion in ASHRAE 90.1.

The group also discussed possibly promoting case studies, where companies are using TP-1 compliant products - Miller Manufacturing of Michigan, Compaq Computers of Massachusetts and Ohio State were mentioned as prospects. The breakout session participants were urged to submit case studies to Mahri Lowinger at CEE. Case studies can be sent to her at mlowinger@CEEforMT.org.

NYSERDA  At the end of June NYSERDA will launch a two-year project aimed at building awareness, availability and penetration of Energy Star Transformers in New York. The work will be carried out by ACEEE, The Cadmus Group and ICF Consulting. They plan to provide technical assistance and support educational activities with manufacturers, trade allies and utilities, and offer short term incentives to help build demand. NYSERDA issued a press release on June 5th. Contact Mahri Lowinger at CEE or Matt Brown at NYSERDA if you would like a copy. Matt can be reached at 518-862-1090, ext.3336.

The presentations from this breakout session are available on CEEs website.

The CEE Transformers Working Group will continue to: 1. Promote TP-1 via Energy Star 2. Develop and promote a turn-key program for market transformation programs to adopt. 3. Investigate the medium-voltage transformer market and make recommendations to Energy Star and NEMA where appropriate. 4. Investigate coordinating market research to get a better handle on actual market penetration of Energy Star transformers.

-- Mahri Lowinger (mlowinger@ceeformt.org), June 19, 2000